A Legend's Beginning
by deltaprime11
Summary: Naruto is being chased through the village on his birthday the same as every year of his life, He Finds a way out of the village and stumbles upon an old run-down home, inside he finds the true secrets to his Legacy, He is the Son of Minato Namikaze and he vow's to make his parents proud. Opening heavily inspired by The son of the Yellow Flash! NaruHina. Hope you Enjoy.
1. His True Legacy

**A/N: Naruto's character is inspired really heavily from 'The Son of the Yellow Flash' By Howard Blake, It is a really great Fiction and I highly recommend it, My main cannon changes are, Naruto at the beginning of this is twelve years old so are the rest of the people in his class, So the Academy starts when they are twelve and run's two years, Tenten, Neji and Rock Lee are still a year older and have graduated the Academy as they have on cannon, At this time I am unsure whether or not I plan to have Jiraiya take Naruto on the training trip, Oh and Kurama's a good guy, well relatively good anyway. Hope you Enjoy!**

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><p>He ran, his legs burned, he panted struggling to keep enough oxygen in his body to continue to move, he stepping into an ally and leaned his head against the cool concrete, he gazed up at the sky and wished more than anything for the ability to fly away, just to go into that endless stretch of blue orange and yellow and never come down, he took another deep breath and stared at the small window in front of him, the pale gray of the concrete behind him, he stared at the small boy in front of him like he was looking through someone else's eyes, the bright azure eyes stared back at him, the greenish blue goggles wrapped around his head, the almost gravity defying bright blonde-hair and the three whisker marks on either of his cheeks. He was known as Naruto Uzumaki to himself, but to the rest of the village a demon and a monster, he never understood why they hated them and he doubted he ever would. He drew another long breath before stepping out of the alley and continuing at a dead run, he could hear the mob of angry voices behind him. It was October tenth the boy's birthday, many would think it was one too celebrate with friends. It had never been this way for Naruto he spent his birthday running for his life and it didn't matter how long he managed to avoid the village eventually they would catch him and beat him to inch of his life, he stumbled as his foot connected with a rock, the voices were too close he needed somewhere to hide, he looked down at what he had tripped on a large rock was connected to the wall, he immediately took noticed of what seemed like a tunnel behind the rock, he didn't have time to think if it went anywhere, he moved his body around and pushed against the rock with his legs using the last of his energy to move it, he slid into the hole and found he had quite a bit of room to move around in the tunnel.<p>

He pulled the rock back over the whole and slumped against the wall of the blackness of his hiding place, he heard the shouts and thuds of footsteps as the angry mob ran past his spot. As the voices faded he let out a relieved sigh and looked around him, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness ad he could make out the tunnel much more effectively now. He slowly got to his feet and followed the tunnel away from the village away from the angry mob and all the hatred, a wide smile slowly split his face at the prospect of impending freedom.

He stopped the smile vanished 'What about Old man Saratobi, and Iruka Sensei he is like a brother and the old man is the closest thing to a father I have ever had.' He thought a sudden sadness at leaving his precious people behind gripped him and he turned back to the hole in the wall. He shook his head, 'if anyone they would understand why I am leaving' He thought with a new determination as he took another step away from his village, then another before breaking into a run, he burst through the entrance to the cave and looked up at the sky, the sunset in Konoha was something he would always miss he loved watching the sun go down sitting atop the Yondaime's head, gazing out over the village, he had wanted to become a Ninja to go to the Academy at the beginning of the term next year 'The old man even said he would pay my school fee's.' He looked out into the forest, if he squinted he swore he could make something out in the distance, he frowned 'I didn't think anyone lived outside the walls.' He thought as he walked towards, what he now recognized as a small house, it had a thatched roof, a single small circle window in one wall, the outside was painted a dark hue of red or it may have just been faded paint, the white paint on the door was cracked and peeling, it was obvious no one had been here in a long time. He pushed the door open, the hinges creaked but other than that it was deathly silent around him. He poked his head in the door and looked around, a thick film of dust settled over everything there was a large closet and two small chests, he continued to look around the room and his eyes fell on something he had never seen before. It was the oddest style of Kunai he had ever seen, the three pronged piece of steal stuck out of what looked like a faded painting of a target in the wall, he cocked his head as he walked up to it 'I have never seen a Kunai like that before.' He thought to himself 'I wonder who lived here.' He thought as he looked around, curiosity got the better of him and he walked over to the closet, he pulled open the doors and let out a very surprised gasp, inside was a long white coat, the Kanji for Fire imprinted on the back, he recognized the cloak instantly, it was the cloak of his idol, the fourth Hokage. 'That mean's this was his house?' Naruto thought as he looked at the old building in a new light, he walked over the chest and opened one of them, inside were a few stacks of books, as well as a small bundle of the three-pronged Kunai like the one that was hanging on the wall, picking up the book on top of the stack he blew the dust of it and coughed before letting out a loud sneeze, his nose had always been more sensitive than normal people and it was in moments like this that he cursed it.

He pulled the small leather bound book open and looked down at the photo's on the inside, the first was a small photo, He recognized the Blonde haired person immediately as the fourth, he was young and Naruto found himself smiling at the peculiar similarities in their appearances, he looked at the other two people in the photo, one a red-haired girl that gave him the oddest feeling of Déjà vu he had ever had in his life and another black-haired boy he didn't recognize at all, the stood in front of a taller man with long white hair, they were all smiling, Naruto just smirked at the picture before turning the page.

The next picture, was just the Yondaime and the redhead, He had his chin resting on her shoulder and she was looking up at him lovingly, he smiled before turning the page again, most of the pictures after that were the Yondaime and the same girl doing various things, There was even a few pictures of them getting married, he turned to the last page, The woman was laying on the couch the Yondaime was beside her each of them had their hands on her, stomach now incredibly large, quite obviously she was pregnant, he noticed a few lack marking on th back of the photo so he turned it around to read what his idol had written.

_It's October 6th, Our baby is to be born any day now, if it happens to be a boy we have decided on the name…We are going to call him._

Naruto dropped the book, It couldn't be he had to have read that wrong 'Naruto.' It swam around in his mind and he bent down and picked up the book, he reread the few words over and over again, it never changed, he pinched his arm hard and was shocked to find himself in the same hut sitting on front of the same chest 'I am the son of the fourth!?' His mind yelled.

He replaced the book and pulled the lid of the chest down, before bounding out of the house, slamming the door behind him as he ran back towards the village 'There is someone who can answer this for me.' He thought as he ran, all thoughts of running away now gone just one question swam in his head 'Is it really true?' He thought as he ran, a small part of him held hope.

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><p>Saratobi leaned against his desk, he rolled his pipe in his mouth as he looked at the window at the last rays of sunlight streamed into his office, he said a silent prayer for Naruto's safety as he thought, he turned to look at the small photograph of his successor, "I wish I could do more for the boy." Was all he said, a small nock at the door roused him from his musings, "Enter." He called out the door opened revealing his secretary.<p>

"You have a visitor Hokage-sama." The women said bowing respectfully before stepping out of the way to reveal, a slightly disheveled, Naruto.

The Hokage smiled "Hello Naruto, Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Was all Naruto said as he stepped into the office closing the door behind him, he stared down at the floor trying to find the right words to say "Um, Old man my father he is, was, the fourth Hokage wasn't he?"

Saratobi stumbled and managed to catch his pipe before it hit the floor "H-How did you find out?" He asked in disbelief.

"The villagers were chasing me and I found a secret passage under the wall, I sort of stumbled onto his house." Naruto explained flashing a wide grin and scratching the back of his head "So it's true then? I really am his son?"

Saratobi sighed "Naruto, what I am about to tell you is an S-class secret, please keep you heritage a secret at least until you become a full fledged Ninja, there are still enemies of your father that will come after you if this information became common knowledge." Naruto nodded, and the third proceeded to explain everything about the night the village was attacked and how Naruto's parents died.

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><p>A Few hours later Naruto lay on the bed in his apartment, he looked up at the ceiling 'So I am the container for the dreaded Kyuubi, that's why the village holds so much hate for me.' He thought as he rolled over to face the wall 'The Academy starts up soon, I want to have a little bit of skill before I go, I <em>Will<em> make my parents proud.' He thought as a new determination lit up in his soul causing a wide smile to split his face 'I Will be Hokage!' Was his final thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Naruto opened his eyes, he looked up at a sort of greenish steel, he sat up and looked around, a large cage with a small seal on the door was in the wall and he looked at it slightly confused.

"Where am I?" He wondered aloud.

He heard a loud chuckle, it was almost demonic and he looked into the cage, the large red eyes of the Nine tails stared back at him "**So my Container has come to have a chat."**

**"**You are the Kyuubi." Naruto said, it wasn't really a question.

**"Indeed I am kit, you certainly are interesting…I sense great pain in you but you do not turn towards malice or revenge it almost seems to make you stronger." The foxes eyes narrowed on the boy.**

Naruto glared back defiantly "I plan to prove these people wrong! I am not a monster I merely contain one!"

**The fox let out another laugh "Well then, I will keep you alive Kit."**

"How are you going to do that? And what should I call you?" Naruto haf asked half demanded.

**"You may call me Kurama and I will keep you alive by using my own power to heal you, from this day onwards we are partners." Kurama said with a slight incline of his head.**

"Why would you want to help me?" Naruto asked.

**"If you die with me inside you, I die…I do not wish to die therefore it is beneficial to both parties for me to help you." Kurama stated flatly "Now get some real sleep, you are going to need to keep up your strength."**

Naruto existed the state and continued to stare at the wall for a few minutes before the day's events caught up with him and exhaustion took him to sleep.


	2. New faces

**A/N: Hello all! Well I know I said it would be released on Sunday, but Fuck it, I like writing so I am going to release another one early.**

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><p>Naruto sat in the middle of a field, blocking all the sounds around him out and focusing on nothing but his breathing, it had been 4 day's since he had found his father's small house, he had been giving permission by the old man to use it as his own training ground, in those four days two things stood out more than anything else. The first he had mastered a high level cloning Jutsu and the second was he had adopted his fathers nindo.<p>

The words swam in his mind "I Never give up and I never go back on my word. That is my Nindo…My ninja way." A smile split the young boy's otherwise stoic face as he stood up, he looked around himself at himself, there were almost twenty of himself in the small area training the more necessary tools for being a Ninja, Some were practicing Chakra control, trying to balance a leaf on there forehead without touching it, others were attempting to climb tree's by sending Chakra to his feet and another small group were practicing walking on water. He sighed as he slowly began to disperse the clones, each of their collective experiences and memories rushed into his mind and he swayed slightly as the information processed. Other than physical training he had been reading a lot of his father notes on what is means to be a true Shinobi as well as beginning his studies on Fuinjutsu, the ninja art of sealing. He also read books on politics, war, history, tactics, geography and philosophy. He sighed as he began the walk towards the village.

He had not spoken with the Nine-tails since that first night, when he had agreed to keep him alive for mutual benefit. Naruto shook his head, clearing his mind as he thought about the Academy, his first year began in less than a week, he knew he was more than prepared with the sheer amount of training he's done. 'Deception, one of the greatest tools for a ninja.' The rule rang clear in his mind, he let out another sigh 'I will just average myself with the top of the class, that way I am not showing all of my skills and I don't look like too big a fool.'

He still wore his orange and blue jumpsuit, but the more he learned about being a ninja the less he wanted to wear it 'I wonder if the old man will give me some money for clothing…I could use some weights and new shuriken too, some new Kunai would not hurt me either.'

He had finally found the purpose of the three pronged Kunai hanging on the wall inside the house, when he pulled it down it started a small obstacle course complete with spring loaded traps and target's, he made sure to run it every day and take his time, he had been steadily improving.

As he slid the rock back into place, he pondered the best way to get some extra funding as he walked towards Ichiraku ramen 'I will go after lunch and make the request, then I can spend the rest of the day training with my new gear.' He gave himself an approving nod as he entered the small ramen shop.

"Hey, Old man! You in there?" He called out loudly.

"Whoever is coming in my store calling me old man I'm gonn- Oh hello Naruto." Old man Teuchi, he ran the ramen stand, he is kind and jovial old man who almost always wore a smile. He wore a white apron and a small chef's cap sat on top of the remainder of his gray hair. "What'll be today."

"Just a bowl of Miso Ramen please, I got to get up to see the old man soon." Naruto said simply.

Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, exited from behind a long white curtain with a smile "Hey there Naruto, you excited for the ninja academy next week?" Ayame is a slender girl with long, brown hair and eyes, she had fair skin and wore a dark blue apron, her hair was tied back in a bright white Bandana as she smiled at the small blonde at the shop.

"Yeah, I am going to see the Hokage to see about getting myself some better ninja tools and maybe some new clothes, this come and kill me orange is not very suitable ninja attire." He gave the two a wide smile as a steaming bowl of ramen was set in front of him. He practically inhaled the food before dropping the money on the counter and waving his goodbyes.

Ayame and Teuchi shared a look as they watched him leave, 'He is maturing rather suddenly.' The thought in unison.

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><p>Naruto knocked three times on the Hokage's door and waited, he heard the old man permit his entrance and he opened the door, he noticed they were not alone in the small office. A large man stood on the opposite side of the Hokage, he had long black hair and odd looking pupiless white eyes, Naruto stifled a gasp as he recognized the eyes from what he read in one of his father's book, the eyes of the Hyuuga clan, judging by his clothing this man was important. Naruto bowed respectfully to the man, who merely gave him a questioning look before walking out of the office silently. 'Strange,' The man thought with a backwards glance at the boy 'All my reports say that he is loud obnoxious and incredibly ill-mannered.'<p>

Saratobi watched the exchange with a small chuckle, Naruto straightened after the door closed and turned to the Hokage.

"Hello Naruto, what do I owe the pleasure?" Saratobi asked with a small smile.

"Hey there old man, look I need some money, for new Ninja tools and supplies for training and I am thinking about updating my wardrobe a little." Naruto said flashing his signature grin and scratching the back of his head nervously.

The Hokage cocked his head slightly to the left as he regarded the boy 'Giving him that training area really paid off I see.' Saratobi stroked at his goatee for a few moments before answering "All right, new clothes and a new set of tools for a new start at the Academy. I think that is a fine idea Naruto."

Naruto visibly relaxed "Thanks Old man, oh and if you don't mind me asking who was the man in here before?"

"That was the clan head of the Hyuuga clan, he came to talk to me about one of his daughter's who will be attending the Academy with you next week." Saratobi explained flatly as he handed Naruto an impressive heft of money.

Naruto nodded as he accepted the funds "Well thanks for this." He said as he spun around and took off towards the shopping district. Naruto ducked into an alleyway a few street's before the shopping district "Henge." He said quietly, there was a small puff of smoke and a completely different person stepped out of the alley, this boy was of similar height to Naruto, he had black hair brown eyes and rather pale skin, Naruto finished examining his transformation in the window with a satisfied nod 'No way anyone will think it's me.' he thought with a smile, as he entered the first weapon shop on the corner.

"Well hello!" A cheery voice rang out from behind the counter, he turned to face the girl, she had dark brown hair tied in two small buns on either side of her head, her bangs hid her forehead protector, she also had dark brown eyes and wore a pale pink qipao-style blouse. She smiled at Naruto.

"You can drop the Henge, I promise I won't kick you out." She said simply.

Naruto staggered slightly "H-how did you?"

She gestured to the window behind her "Saw you change." she said flatly. "By the way that was pretty impressive you already in the academy?"

Naruto let the transformation disappear and shook his head "I go start next week, what is your name?"

"I'm Tenten, I graduated last year." She said simply pointed to her headband "And you?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki Na-," Naruto cut himself off 'I need to get a lid on this excitement, taking a steadying breath "Naruto Uzumaki." He said with a smile.

"Alright Naruto, what do ya need?" Tenten asked with a smile.

He listed off all the things he needed, and she gathered his weapons before leading him over to the clothing racks, he sifted through a few things before he found a few things he liked, He took the bundle of clothing into one of the change rooms, he emerged a few seconds later with his arms outstretched beside him, in place of his orange and blue he now wore a black and red coat, it hung down to about his knee, the red Konoha swirl on its back, he wore a simple black t-shirt under that, black pants and black ninja sandal, she gave him an approving nod.

"Looks good, I take it a few set's of that will do?" Tenten said flatly.

Naruto just nodded in response, happy with his choices. she began to add everything up as he picked the training weights off the table, wrapping them around his arms and legs, he noticed not difference at all.

"Um, the weights are surprisingly weightless." Naruto said a little confused.

She looked up at him for a moment then down at the weights, "Oh, right I forgot, these are a little newer. They are made lighter by a seal on each strip of Bamboo that contains the metal weight on the inside, to break the seal just channel a little bit of chakra in it, when it become light again break another seal and so on and so forth." Tenten explained the design.

Naruto nodded, pressing his fingers against one of the strips of white bamboo, he channeled and sure enough his arm felt the added weight, a slightly surprised gasp escaped him as he did added the weight on the rest, he gave a nod 'Perfect I'll get much stronger now.' he thought happily.

"So all this comes to 49 000 yen." Tenten said looking up at him, Naruto pulled the large lump of money the Hokage had given him, he was slightly relieved he could cover it, he thanked Tenten for her help as he left the store, carrying a few bags contained his clothes, his new case strapped to his leg held most of the shuriken and Kunai, he made his way towards his apartment. After depositing the bags on his bed he began his trip back out to his father's hideaway, he wanted to be have the walking on water part of chakra control down by the end of the day.

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><p>A few hours later Naruto lay on his back looking up at the now darkening sky, his best guess was it was around 5:30, he needed to go get dinner and head home. He got to his feet, the weights made his training more difficult but he found they were already considerable easier to use than earlier that day. He smiled at his progress, he had mastered walking on water and even sparred with a shadow clone to test his focus, he didn't go for a swim. He found out his Chakra Nature was wind and had began some of the basic training exercises, namely attempting to cut a leaf in half using only his chakra, it was slow going but he had managed to tear halfway through the leaf in a fairly short time, he assumed he was missing something he would have to ask the old man about it next time he got the chance.<p>

He slid the rock, back over the tunnel, he set off on his way he was walking past the park when he spotted a small indigo haired girl, she was sitting on the swing twirling her legs and looking at the ground rather sadly, she wore a large lavender jacket and had quite pale skin. He smiled she was kind of pretty. He noticed a small group of people walking up to her and assumed they were her friends, that was until she started to back away from them. Naruto made his way over towards them carefully.

'The element of surprise is a tool best not wasted.' One of the rules his father's rules he had inadvertently memorized flashed through his mind.

The girl continued to back away from the group, of what he now saw were much larger boy's he assumed they were second year academy students, one of them raised his hand preparing to strike the small girl, with a click Naruto's weights fell to the ground as he rushed in front of her.

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><p>The girl raised her arms and braced, waiting for the strike that was inevitably about to hit her, it never came, she cracked one eye open and peered around her, she noticed the small black coated blonde boy in front of her, the red swirl on the back of his coat, she followed his arm to find it firmly gripping one of the group of bullies wrist, the hold tightened and the boy winced, "Get!" Naruto order sharply. The small group bowed their heads and sprinted from the park, tails between their legs.<p>

Naruto turned around and looked down at the indigo haired girl, for the first time he noticed her eyes, the lavender pupiless eyes of the Hyuuga clan. He simply smiled and helped her up.

"A-Ano, t-t-thank you." She stuttered out, 'He has such pretty blue eyes.' she thought a small smile on her face.

"Don't mention it." Naruto said flashing a wide grin and scratching the back of his head, it was the first time anyone, let alone a girl, thanked him.

"Young Heiress!" the voice caused both children to turn around, another Hyuuga was running towards the pair, his long hair tied in a pony-tail on the back of his head the headband tied around his forehead as well as the dark blue pants and flak jacket, he approached the young girl and smiled "Your father sent me to bring you home, he had some urgent business with the Hokage to attend to."

"Oh, H-hello Ko, well then we should get going." The girl answered simply.

The man, whose name was apparently Ko, turned to Naruto gave him a disapproving look, which greatly confused the young girl before placing her on his shoulder and walking away. Naruto watched the pair and sighed 'Don't really know what I was expecting.' He thought as he clipped the weights back on his arms and legs 'I didn't get her name though.' He shrugged and pushed the encounter form his mind.

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><p>Naruto sighed in content as he patted his belly full of Ramen, he walked along with a small smile on his face, he raised his arms and folding them behind his head as he walked, something caught his eyes a large ball of fire hovering over the water, he recognized the Chakra in it 'Someone practicing fire style.' He thought with a smile as he made his way over to the pier, the fire winked out and he spotted the small black haired boy, he wore a dark blue coat, had white bandages tied around his arms and stood with his shoulders slightly slumped panting from exhaustion, Naruto noticed the clan mark on the back of his jacket 'Ah, this is the last Uchiha then.' He thought simply, recognizing one of the most influential clans symbols quickly enough.<p>

"Hey there!" Naruto called out as he stepped onto the pier.

The boy stiffened as he turned around, his onyx eyes stared at Naruto with a look of surprise and confusion.

Naruto held his hand out to the side "I just wanted to tell you, that Jutsu is pretty impressive for a kid your age."

"Hn," Was the response "Who are you?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," He introduced "I know you are an Uchiha from the symbol, but I do not know your first name."

"Sasuke." The boy answered, still regaining his breath.

"Well Sasuke, I look forward to sparring against you in the Academy." Naruto said with a slight bow.

Sasuke merely chuckled before turning away and going through some hand signs. Naruto heard the blaze behind him and shook his head 'Even I know you need to take a break at some point.'

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><p>The next week passed quickly for Naruto, he continued his training in the same routine and was pleasantly surprised with his rapidly expanding Fuinjutsu knowledge, he already had an idea for his own seal, but at this point it was the last thing on his mind, today was the day he started in the Academy. He stood outside the large building, the symbol of fire stood proudly on the red of the walls, he realized he was quite early so he sat down over by a large tree, it had a rope swing tied to it, he sat on the ground and pulled a small stack of paper from the pouch on his leg 'May as well tinker with this seal then' He thought simply, the concept was simple, it used the same style as an explosive tag only this one was paralysis, he came up with idea of using a lightning based seal on a piece of paper like this as a way of overloading the nervous system causing paralysis, he even had the idea of attaching it to a senbon as a delivery system, using the metal as a conductor. He Finalized the seal and stood up, creating a single shadow clone in front of him he reached out and placed the seal on it, he channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper, it lit exactly like an explosive tag with a hiss and then a wide arc of golden lighting flew from it, the Clone writhed for a moment before going completely still.<p>

"Did it work?" Naruto asked himself, the clone nodded and Naruto jumped in the air with his fist held high, he had succeeded in making his very own type of ninja weapon he wondered briefly if there would maybe become widely used before shaking his head. He sat back down and started writing out the same thing over the other 30 or so pieces of paper in front of him, he slipped them back into his pouch for future use and contented himself with simply meditating. Slowly the other students began to filter into the yard, seeking out the groups they were familiar with, Naruto was slumped under the tree, he had accidently fallen asleep while he was meditating although to everyone around him he just looked to be still meditating, the bell started him awake and he rubbed his eyes and yawned, realizing he was about to late he jumped to his feet and ran into the classroom, he slid to a stop outside the door and walked inside, every head in the room turned to look at him, he wore his long red and black coat, this one had long sleeves and it covered the training weights he still wore, he wore black pants and the same black ninja sandals. He looked around the room as people soon became uninterested in the newcomer, he noticed two things.

In the top left hand corner of the room, sat the boy he had met last week, he wore a brooding expression as he stared out the window making an obvious effort to ignore the large number of women squealing around him.

Opposite him, sat the pale skinned indigo haired girl he had saved from the bullies, she sat fairly still looking at the floor under her, he decided he would talk with Sasuke later. He walked up the stairs and looked at the small girl "Hey, I didn't get the chance to introduce myself the other day. I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." He said holding out his hand and giving her a wide smile.

She blushed slightly "H-H-Hinata H-H-Hyuuga." she stuttered out as she took his hand and shook it. 'Clam down! He is merely being polite and introducing himself, wow his hand is really warm…I wonder if he wants to sit next to me? All right Hinata do not faint.' Her thoughts went from a inner pep talk to a little confusion then back to the pep talk as she sat there.

"Would you mind if I sit here?" Naruto asked simply.

Hinata pinched her arm and let out a surprised squeak when she realized she wasn't dream and this was in fact real 'You need to answer!' her mind yelled "Y-y-y-y-yes y-you m-may." she managed to say, she mentally patted herself on the back for not fainted as he took the seat.

'The way she stutters is so cute,' Naruto thought with an absentminded smile 'Wait what? What the hell is wrong with me, as if any girl would be interested in…well me...Wait am I putting myself down?' Naruto shook his head and took a deep calming breath.

The door slid open, to reveal a familiar scared Chunin, Iruka walked into the class followed closely, by a white haired man Naruto did not recognize.

"All right class welcome to your first day at the Ninja Academy!" Iruka announced happily "If you will all take your seat I can take attendance and then we can begin your evaluation."

The shuffling of chairs and feet were heard as everyone found their seats, Iruka began listing names off "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Abarame, Ino Yakamaka." Each name was called and answered with the raised hand of the person who I was.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka called out, as he searched the class for the familiar orange and blue, he found the hand raised at the back and stifled a gasp, Naruto was not wearing the same clothing as usual he seemed to be behaving himself too. Iruka shook his head slightly and continued.

He concluded the attendance "well Hello everyone, I am your Sensei Iruka and this is Mizuki sensei we will be your teachers for the next two years as you begin your young ninja careers." He said with a smile "Now we are going to evaluate your current skills to see where each of you are at right now."

"If you would please follow me out to the field we can begin."

**A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter and i will see you with the scheduled one on Sunday.**


	3. The Evaluation's

It only took a few minutes for the class to get outside, They stood a large clearing, almost no grass grew on the ground and an aged white circle could be barely made out if you looked hard enough. Naruto stood beside Hinata, looking over her head at the rest of the males he would have to fight. Off the bat he could tell Sasuke chakra reserves were much higher than the others, 'Chakra does not count for everything though.' He thought as he continued over the rest of his classmates.

Iruka simply looked over the top of his small clipboard at his class "All right, First things first, The Taijutsu evaluation." He announced loudly, many of the people in the class groaned. Naruto just pulled one of his arms above his head stretching out a little bit. Sasuke didn't do anything.

"So first up, Kiba Inuzuka and Chouji Akamichi." Iruka read the names and looked at the two in question.

They stepped in the center of the clearing and bowed, the small dog on Kiba's head just yipped.

"You may not use Chakra, only straight Taijutsu," Iruka said flatly, giving the Inuzuka boy a pointed stare, the boy shrugged "Begin."

The dog jumped out of the circle, without Chakra he wasn't going to be fighting so he was content to watch from the sidelines. Kiba flashed a cocky grin "I gotta fight this Fatso? Too easy."

A boy with a one of the oddest hairstyles Naruto had ever seen shook his head and Naruto turned back to the fight.

"Heh, I think I misheard you dog boy," Chouji very nearly growled "You want to repeat that?"

Kiba's grin got slightly smaller "You heard me, Chubby, what are you going to do eat me?"

Chouji charged him, throwing a series of punches that Kiba either dodged or blocked, Kiba ducked his head as a fist flew over his head, and brought his foot into the larger boys stomach, he lurched forward and Kiba slammed his fist into Chouji's chin, the boy fell backwards and landed with a heavy thud. Chouji got up rather slowly massaging his chin "I yield." He growled out, looking at Iruka.

The sensei nodded "Next up, Shino Abarame and Shikamaru Nara."

Naruto gave Chouji a small grin and tapped him on the shoulder "Don't worry about it you did pretty will you just need to practice some more."

Chouji smiled and scratched the back of his head a little "Yeah, thanks. I'm Chouji, By the way."

"Naruto." He responded taking the offered hand and giving it a shake.

"I yield." Was heard and many of the group turned around, the two people hadn't even moved.

Naruto frowned, Chouji noticed his look "Shikamaru is really lazy, if he doesn't HAVE to fight he won't."

Naruto shrugged "He is only hurting his own scores."

Hinata watched the blonde as he moved about the group, always telling the loser of the fight something encouraging or urging them to train more. Hinata let a small smile play out on her face as she waited.

"Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno." Iruka called out.

Naruto focused his attention on the fight in front of him, while he didn't know either of the girls well, he was still interested in their abilities.

Hinata stepped into the circle, uncomfortably aware of every set of eyes on her and the pinkette in front of her, she rubbed her forearms nervously.

"No Byakugan Hinata," Iruka said simply "Begin."

Hinata nodded and dropped into the basic Gentle-fist style stance, she watched her opponent and frowned the girl wasn't even watching, she sighed walked towards the Pinkette and slammed her palm into the girl chest, she sprawled on the ground and sat up slowly "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You realize you are supposed to be fighting right?!" Naruto shouted with a shake of his head.

Sakura blushed slightly, she hadn't been paying attention and now everyone knew her slip-up 'What would Sasuke-Kun think of me now, he probably thinks' I'm an idiot.'

Sasuke stood with his same brooding expression 'I wonder if I should go out for dinner tonight.' He thought absently.

Sakura finally stood up and…Attempted to fight Hinata, the spar was one sided and Sakura gave after the fourth strike knocked her down.

Hinata walked away from the sparring circle, Naruto made no move to go towards Sakura at all "Nicely done Hinata-chan. That was impressive."

Hinata blushed deeply "T-T-Thank you." she managed.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called out.

So far Naruto had watched all the fights, he knew he would be matching his skill with Sasuke already, so he walked to the center of the field and waited. Sasuke stood opposite him a cocky smirk on his face.

"Did you end up getting that fire Jutsu down?" Naruto asked in genuine curiosity.

Sasuke nodded.

"Begin."

Naruto brought his hand up in front of him and waited, Sasuke flew forward and Naruto smirked, 'he is probably as fast as I am now.' Naruto, twisted and blocked the strike with his elbow, attempting to kick the Uchiha's legs out from under him, Sasuke jumped the attack and threw his other fist at him, Naruto caught it in his palm and turned Sasuke in the air, Sasuke landed on his hands and twisted like top forcing Naruto to jump back away from the Uchiha as he got up.

'This guy is actually on par with me,' Sasuke thought a little surprised as he continued his assault on the blonde, The fight continued the same way for about ten minutes, each throwing attacks the other blocked before eventually having to disengage.

"All right that's enough," Iruka announced as neither had won, he called it a draw.

The girls all fawned as Sasuke walked off the field, most of the guys gave Naruto an approving nod or smile, Shikamaru gave him a knowing smile and Naruto frowned 'There is no way he knows I held back, he doesn't know who I am.'

Shikamaru watched the blonde seat himself beside the Hyuuga 'Those weights are almost perfectly hidden almost.'

"I know that look." Chouji said glancing at his friend "who have you figured out?"

Shikamaru leaned in to whisper his knowledge to Chouji, who's eyes widened as he looked at the blonde in a new light.

"T-T-That was A-amazing N-Naruto-Kun." Hinata stuttered out.

Naruto just smiled at her "Thanks Hinata-chan."

"Well done everybody!" Iruka called out happily "Now we come to the Jutsu part of your evaluation."

"You will all come up and demonstrate your most powerful Jutsu," Iruka continued "If your Jutsu requires a target please state it before hand."

"I think I will go backward down the list this time, so first up Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka looked at his blonde student with a smile.

Naruto smiled back 'Oh crap, I can't do my more powerful Jutsu's, Shadow clones are out, I wonder.'

"Iruka sensei, May we use a Fuinjutsu seal of our own creation?" Naruto asked flatly.

Iruka tapped his chin in thought "All right, but have you really made one Naruto?" He asked apprehensively.

"I will need a target to show you," Naruto said simply.

Iruka nodded, he crossed his hands and a puff of smoke appeared beside him, two Iruka's stood in front of the class many of the children gasped ins surprise, Naruto just smirked 'So sensei knows it too.'

Naruto pulled a blank piece of paper out of his pouch, he sat down before drawing his seal, he stood up and showed it to Iruka, as proof that is was in fact original. Iruka gazed down at the thing with wide-eyed disbelief "Y-Yes this is original." He said flatly. Everyone stared at Naruto and he smiled.

He placed the tag on the clones Iruka, took one step back and placed his index and middle finger in front of his chest, he closed his eyes and channeled his Chakra, the clone's face contorted in pain and it fell to the ground heavily, before dispersing.

"Effective Naruto," Iruka said as the memories of his clone filed into his mind "A paralysis seal that works exactly like an explosive tag. Very impressive."

Naruto nodded his thanks and retook his seat, the class got up one by one. Shikamaru did his shadow possession, Chouji used super expansion, Sakura did a substitution, Kiba used man beast clone and fang over fang, Hinata did a clone Jutsu and Sasuke blew a large fireball.

"All right we are going to take a break for lunch, meet back here in one hour. Class dismissed."

The class dispersed, some went back to their lockers to grab pre-packed Bento's others, like Naruto went to the Academy's small cafeteria. He bought a large roll of bread and a small bottle of ice tea, He walked back outside into the large yard and looked around, He spotted Hinata sitting next to a small frame, two wooden posts connected by a single metal pole, she leaned against the pole on the left, he walked up jumped above her landing on the pole, he let his legs dangle as he ate.

Hinata didn't hear him approach, she didn't even know he was there until she heard something being unwrapped above her, she turned her head slightly to see the blonde ninja peering down at her curiously. She let out a startled "eep." and bounced to her feet.

"Oh, sorry Hinata-chan I should have said something," Naruto flashed her a wide grin and scratched the back of his head "I just didn't think either of us wanted to eat alone."

She took a deep breath "T-that's alright N-Naruto-kun, you are right eating alone isn't really any fun."

Naruto finished his meal and hanging onto the bar with his legs leaned back hanging upside down his head was about level with Hinata's who sat with her legs crossed, she didn't miss the looks he kept shooting at her Bento. She smiled.

"Did your mother make that or something?" Naruto asked simply, wanting to learn a little more about the shy girl he found himself spending a quickly growing amount of time with.

"Ano, m-my mother passed a-away when I was l-little." Hinata said a little sadness etched into her voice.

Naruto cursed himself silently for bringing up painful memories, he did not like the look on Hinata's face at all "Sorry Hinata-chan I didn't know."

"T-that's alright N-Naruto-kun, I know." She smiled at him reassuringly.

He seemed to relax a little, "I-I made this myself." She added holding it up slightly, unable to not show it off a little.

"Look's really good," Naruto said, his original happy image returning "Wish I could cook like that."

"C-cooking isn't that h-hard, y-you just need to p-practice." Hinata said pointing at the blonde and doing her best to sound like she was scolding him, the effect was lost with her stuttering.

He chuckled at the small display "Heh, maybe I should pick up a cookbook or something."

Hinata took another deep breath, "H-Hey N-Naruto-kun," The boy turned his gaze into her lavender irises and she almost lost her nerve, she gripped her chopsticks a little tighter "Say Ah." She smiled as she held up a small piece of fried shrimp, he looked at her a little confused before opening his mouth, she placed it inside and her cheeks darkened a deep crimson. He smiled at her as he chewed, surprising the urge to moan at the flavor.

"That tastes Amazing Hinata-chan, you are going to make some lucky guy very happy one day." He flipped around and landed on his feet, looking up at the sky for a moment. He turned around to tell Hinata that they should head back slightly when he noticed she was swaying around, he knew she was going to fall and he reacted quickly, half diving and sliding up catching her head before it hit the ground, he placed a hand on her forehead 'She's a bit feverish.' He thought absently. Not realizing the true reason she fainted.

The second Naruto had told her she was going to make someone happy she had imagined all sort so things with Naruto, the image of them kissing had made her faint. She didn't stay unconscious long, her eyes opened slowly, she realized how close he was before anything else, his eyes stared down at her in worry as he placed his hand on her forehead.

He shook her shoulder's lightly "Hey, Hinata welcome back to the land of the living." He smiled as she supported herself, he stepped back.

"S-Sorry N-Naruto-Kun, I don't know why I f-fainted." Hinata managed to say.

He just smiled at her "You were a little hot, maybe you should stop wearing that jacket so much, it might be the thing that is overheating you."

She smiled at his concern "M-maybe y-your right."

"Anyway, we should probably head back, Iruka sensei won't be too happy with us if we are late." Naruto said simply, he held out his hand to help her up, she took it albeit slowly 'Her hand's are really soft.' Naruto thought with a smile.

'All right Hinata, do not faint.' She thought as he placed her hand in his, her soft paw connected with his slightly rough and callused one 'He must train a lot for his hand to feel like this.' She thought as she stared at the joined limbs, she got to her feet and let go.

They got back to the clearing, the rest of the class finished off showing their Jutsu and it was time to go home, Naruto left Hinata with a wave and went to his father's hideout for an afternoon training session before dinner at Ichiraku's and then finally home to hit the sack after a long day.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, now I feel like I should make a few things a little more clear, Naruto is taking his Ninja more seriously so he is much stronger but he is still at heart a nice person, he sin't going to be cold and strong just the same friendly Naruto with a few kick-ass Jutsu's :P, Secondly I wanted to ask, would you guys prefer if I used the Japanese names for the Jutsu's or English, I know some people have preferences and I am impassive either way, just wanted to see what my reader's prefer! Peace**


	4. Changing Fate

**A/N: *Continues to frown in thought* I can't remember if I released a chapter yesterday or if I just dreamt I had, so I am releasing one to make sure as the website isn't telling me either…I doubt anyone is going to complain though :P**

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><p>Naruto awoke to the consistent ringing of his alarm clock, he pressed the button to silence the device and slowly stretched upwards, he had had his first day at the Academy he had made what he hoped would become a good friendship and had managed to keep his true skill hidden, well at least he hoped he had. Naruto pinched the bride of his nose as he sighed, something was plaguing his mind and he knew the source, 'That Uchiha.' He recognized the look in the boy's eyes, loneliness the kind that someone hides and needs to be saved from, 'The same kind I dealt with.' Naruto stared at the wall in front of him a burning determination ignited within him 'I Will Help Him.'<p>

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><p>Naruto arrived at the Academy a while later, most of his class was gather in front of the large bulletin board, he had forgotten the results of their evaluation were going to be posted today, he noticed Hinata standing off to the side shyly, he frowned 'She is strong but she lack confidence,' He walked over to her flashing a beaming smile "Hey Hinata-chan."<p>

"N-Naruto-kun, Good morning." She gave him a small smile as she averted her gaze to the floor.

"So what did you score?" He asked lowering his head and looking at her out of the corner of his eye, making her raised her head and look at him.

"I-I d-don't know j-just yet." She squeaked out.

"Well let's find out," Naruto replied with a smile as he pulled her along by the wrist, clearing a path to the board.

Hinata didn't have to object or faint before the contact was gone, she was staring at the blonde in utter admiration and something else which the young girl did not understand. She turned her head to look at the board, he had literally dragged her too. Both Naruto and Sasuke were tied with perfect scores of one hundred out of one hundred.

Naruto stared at the girl's scores, before turning to Hinata with a look of both admiration and pride, he indicated for her to look with his head and she did, she sat on top of all the girls in her class.

"Told ya, what you did yesterday was very impressive." Naruto nodded his approval and gave her a thumbs up.

She blushed deeply and averted her gaze again "T-Thanks N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto spotted a very familiar tuft of black-hair over his friends head and smiled with a shake of his head "Hinata I will see you at lunch, there is something I have to…deal with."

She nodded "O-Okay Naruto-kun, I will see you then."

"Same spot as yesterday." He said with a wave as he walked away from the her.

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><p>Naruto stepped out onto the large practice field, he knew it was number 45 from his own experience, he noticed the Uchiha wailing on one of the wooden stumps in the centre of the field, he approached him slowly and leaned against one of the three pieces of wood, watching him and waiting.<p>

Sasuke noticed him and stopped "You need something?" He demanded.

"You and I are tied for first," Naruto said simply, gauging his reaction, other than slightly widening his eyes, he kept his face remarkable under control "Tell me, what do you train for?"

Sasuke stared at him for a few minutes "I train to become stronger, I will kill a certain man…And take my vengeance."

Naruto nodded "Do you want me to show you why I am stronger than you?"

The boy stared at him in surprised disbelief 'What is this blonde-idiot on about we are even on the score!' "You are not stronger than me."

"Oh, but I am," Naruto raised his arms and unclipped the weights, they clattered the two ground with a loud crash, he also removed the ones from his legs, realization dawned on Sasuke's face "I was wearing these in our spar yesterday as well." Naruto disappeared in front of the Uchiha before reappearing behind him, Kunai placed on his throat for emphasis.

"You just died, now would you like me to explain why I am stronger than you?" Naruto asked again.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and nodded, both curious and pissed at his apparent weakness.

"You train only for yourself, therein lies your weakness," Naruto announced sharply "When you have something, something above anything else you wish to protect, you fight with greater ferocity than even yourself could have considered possible."

Sasuke stared at the blonde in front of him 'Foster your hatred, only then will you become strong!' His brothers words rang around in his mind and he clutched at his head as he fell to his knee's "No! I Need to Avenge my clan! Only Hatred can get me the power I require."

"If that is what you truly believe defeat me," Naruto stated flatly "If hatred is true power you should have no problem."

Sasuke bounded to his feet, throwing blow after blow at the blonde in front of him, without his weights on, Naruto dodged him effortlessly the Uchiha never got remotely close to landing a blow, he went at his full speed for a long time before he collapsed, he stared at the ground under him in a mix of embarrassment and defeat.

Naruto kneeled down and held out his hand "I want to protect this entire village, I will become Hokage. This is what makes me strong…What do you want to do Sasuke?" Sasuke expected pity, he received nothing but respect and kindness and…understanding.

"I-I don't know." Sasuke chokingly admitted.

"I didn't know either for a long time, I was like you…completely alone and in many way's I still am," Naruto half consoled and half admitted "I am only just now starting to make friends, but I want to protect everyone…From what I went through and whatever else threatens them."

Naruto pulled Sasuke to his feet "Find what you want to protect and let it strengthen you Sasuke." Naruto retrieved his weights and left the training field.

"Wait Naruto!" The blonde turned around.

"What if they go after what you wish to protect?" Sasuke asked although he felt he already knew the answer.

"There is no guarantee they won't, so will you be strong enough to protect it?" Naruto asked in challenge.

Sasuke nodded and sat down, he crossed his legs and took a long deep-breath 'Find Something to protect.' The words rang in his mind loudly, the blotted everything out and he felt…Fulfilled, he knew what was just said was nothing but the truth and it helped considerablely. But Sasuke found himself in a new situation 'How?' He thought simply.

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><p>Naruto sighed and leaned his head against the wall as he rounded the corner 'That went a lot smoother than I anticipated.' He thought with a smile, he peered around the wall to see the Uchiha sitting in a state of meditation, he nodded and spun around off to find his Violet eyed companion. Naruto noticed two thing when he arrived at the small frame where he had first shared lunch with Hinata, the first was that she held a second Bento and was smiling happily as she waited. He forgot whatever else as he walked up to her.<p>

"Hinata-chan," He announced happily "Good to know you didn't stand me up." He flashed her a grin.

Hinata pursed her lip and placed her free hand on her hip "Well I guess you don't want this lunch I made you." She raised her nose into the air and huffed.

"You didn't stutter," Naruto pointed out quickly "And I am sorry, please I would love to eat the lunch you made." He fell to his knees and practically begged, partly because he had left his wallet at home and he felt like his stomach would soon attempt to eat his other organs.

She held out the small blue box and flashed a very small smile "I-It's alright N-Naruto-kun."

He accepted the box with a wide grin while he scratched the back of his head "Thanks Hinata-chan, I left my wallet at home and didn't pack anything."

"I-If you'd like, I-I c-could m-make l-lunch f-for t-the t-two of u-us, N-Naruto-kun." She let out a long breath, followed quickly by a silent prayer.

Naruto blinked and then rubbed his eyes with back of his hands 'Is this real life?' He frowned before shaking his head "That would be wonderful Hinata-chan, to enjoy your cooking everyday would be a dream come true." He flashed her a wide-grin, blissfully unaware of the effect of those few words.

Hinata's vision darkened and she pinched her arm slightly, forcing herself to remain conscious, she took another deep breath and smiled "A-all r-right then, D-don't worry a-about l-lunch anymore N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded as he broke the chopsticks, pulling the lid off the Bento he looked inside, the design made him giggle slightly he gave Hinata a pointed look "Hinata-chan, one might think you have ulterior motives." He gave her a sly smile and her face darkened considerable, if you looked close enough he swore he saw steam fly from her ears. He looked down at the small design, he assumed it was supposed to be his face and if it wasn't he was going to think the same way anyway, the rice made up his face, three black whiskers on each cheek, two pieces of sushi made up his eyes, fried shrimp and other assortments made up the hair "This is really nice Hinata-chan." He complimented with a nod.

She visibly relaxed "I-I'm G-glad you l-like it N-Naruto-kun."

They ate at their respective speeds, that is to say Naruto inhaled the food and Hinata ate slowly. "Um, N-Naruto-kun, what d-did you h-have to t-take care o-of today?"

"Had a little chat with Sasuke, that's all, I think we are going to see some changes." He simply smiled at her, his word were not as cryptic as Hinata interpreted them.

A ball rang signaling the classes beginning, the pair got up and made their way over to the class room, they took their usual seat in the top right hand corner of the classroom, Naruto noticed Sasuke was not in the room as a result it was much quieter, most of the girls stared longingly waiting for the black haired brooder to arrive. Naruto pulled a single senbon from his pouch and began twirling it about on top of his index finger, he stared at the small Fuinjutsu book in front of him, the needle slowly gained speed becoming a silver blur as he spun it. Naruto got the odd feeling h was being stared at and he raised his eyebrows to peer over the book, indeed the whole class was staring at him in surprise.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked, still confused.

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun, the s-senbon." Hinata indicated, the whirling piece of metal in my hand.

"What about it," Naruto asked still confused "It helps me think." he explained simply.

The class gave him an odd look but went back to whatever it was they were doing before hand, Chouji turned his utmost attention to his bag of chips, Shikamaru remained asleep through the whole thing, Kiba threw a ball for Akamaru to catch, Shino sat still and as stoic as ever. The girl's, with the exception of Hinata, went back to staring at the door.

Another few minutes past before Sasuke entered, the girls fawned and he kept his face completely impassive although lacking his usual scowl, Hinata looked at the Uchiha a little confused 'Maybe this is what Naruto-kun meant.' She though curiously.

Sasuke glided over the classroom, he found Naruto in and silently thanked Kami, he sat in the middle with Hinata to his left leaving an empty seat that Sasuke intended to exploit. He sat next to the blonde, who merely smiled and nodded at him, before turning back to his book and continuing to twirl the senbon, Sasuke paid it little attention as he introduced himself to the shy Hyuuga, who stuttered out her name and shook his hand.

All of Sasuke's fan girls stared in wide-eyed disbelief and anger at the fact that _their_ Sasuke had not done the same thing with them.

"Careful Sasuke, don't feed the wolves." Naruto warned, peering over the top of his book. Sasuke followed his eyes and paled, 'Oh Kami, please protect me from these women.' He thought as the large group glared at him and his two companions.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered "How do you manage to be one of the best and avoid fan girls completely?"

"I don't pretend to be above human attraction," Naruto whispered in answer "Maybe you should pick one, you have a pretty wide selection."

"But if I do that won't it hurt the others?" Sasuke asked a little confused.

"They can't all have you, your only one man, picking one sooner rather than later will help the rest move on." Naruto replied flatly.

"But I can't just go with anyone, they have to be able to be the wife of a clan head a strong Kunouchi or something right?" Sasuke asked.

"You are thinking with the wrong muscle," Naruto replied not looking up, he poked his chest lightly "This will tell you which one you should choose," He tapped his head "This won't."

Sasuke tuned his gaze on the girls in front of him, many blush and looked away, it occurred to them he had seen this reaction from someone else, he looked over Naruto's head, and gave himself a small mental pat on the back, Hinata was just staring at Naruto lovingly while his attention was occupied. He folded his fingers together and rested his chin on them while he thought "Hey Naruto, do you have any feeling for anyone?"

Naruto eyes flickered slightly in Hinata's direction it was almost uncaught by the Uchiha prodigy, almost. "Not really, I am a little young for that." Naruto answered flatly.

Sasuke smirked 'He is telling a little bit of the truth, but I doubt even he knows the whole truth himself.' Sasuke thought a little content at the things he had learned from his exchanges with the blonde, a smile actually broke out on the Uchiha's face, albeit a small one, but at least there was a genuine smile of happiness on his face for once.

Naruto noticed "Oh, it can smile." He snickered.

Sasuke just lightly bopped him the smile widened slightly, he continued to study the people around him, he found his eyes falling on a certain pinkette more than the rest of the girls in his class, he shook his head as Iruka entered the room, turning his attention to his classes.

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><p>Naruto sat in a clearing surrounded by his clones, all practicing various things, he had learned his Affinity was Wind and so a large group was dedicated to attempting to cut a leaf in half, the rest were working on Taijutsu, some on Shuriken throwing he stood up and sighed, slowly dispersing the clones as he walked towards the Village, he had mastered yet another Jutsu over the few weeks he had been trained, he smirked as the memories filed themselves and he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, he stood beside the cave and entered slowly sliding the rock back into place as he made his way towards Ichiraku's.<p>

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><p>He sat on his bed unable to sleep, he reflected on the day everything was progressing well, Sasuke was gradually changing, Hinata was gaining confidence. He rubbed his chin slowly as he thought well into the night before sleep finally claimed him.<p> 


	5. Always

Naruto paced around his room, a deep set frown wrinkling his brow as he thought about the day's events, it had been six months since he started at the Academy and everything was going smoothly, Hinata had gained a lot of confidence and she had asked him to train her, he had accepted and they met a few times a week, he was surprised when he learned they had a shared Nindo but he was happy someone else thought like him and this is where his current state stemmed.

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><p><em>A few days earlier…<em>

Naruto blocked another strike and used Hinata's momentum to flip her, he twisted in the air landing deftly as she rotated breaking his hold on her arm and charging him again, he ducked under another attack before taking her legs out from under her, she caught hold of his collar and pulled him over, the rolled along the ground Naruto supporting his weight on his hand's slightly above her, he chuckled a bit 'Was she always this beautiful?' Naruto thought wondrously a large smile split his features before he shook his head, trying to clear it, they were so close all he would have to do was lean in and his lips pressed against hers before he realized he had moved, her lips were so soft against his it took most of his willpower to jerk his head back and jump to his feet.

"S-S-Sorry Hinata!" He practically shouted in his haste losing the suffix as he ran away from her.

The girl hadn't moved, she brushed her fingers against her lips a small smile played out on her face, she was glad she didn't faint 'Naruto-kun kissed me!' She would have jumped for joy, if she had not being lying down and if he hadn't just abruptly run off. She sat up and frowned 'He kissed me? Why did he run away? Did I do something wrong?' Her mind asked the questions quickly and she shook her head and rubbed her forehead slowly 'No, I am sure this is something Naruto-kun need's to figure out himself.' she hoped he didn't think she hated him as she left the training ground, the same giddy smile still plastered on her face.

_Back to the present._

And that is why Naruto paced around his room, in his own mind trying to determine why exactly he had kissed her and why he wanted to do it again, he still remembered the smell of lavender that wafted off of her and he shook his head again 'No, this is wrong isn't it? I stole her first kiss…Well at least I assume it was her first, it was mine too but that doesn't make it any better!' He gritted his teeth and shook his head as he stepped out of his apartment, he went to the only place that helped him think clearly his father's old hideout.

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><p>He sat in a standard meditation pose, 'all right calm down, now you kissed one of your only friends, you want to do it again which mean you like her…What you don't know is if she hates you or if she likes you back.' Naruto nodded and took another deep breath before something caught his attention, it was a flicker of someone Chakra signature, he frowned there shouldn't be anyone out here, it was only there for a split second before disappearing. He shook his head 'Probably some ninja's on a training exercise.' Dismissing it from his mind as he stood up, he wanted to talk with the old man, maybe he could offer him some advice.<p>

As Naruto walked he continued to think about the Chakra signature, it was still suspicious 'If they were Leaf ninja coming back from a mission, they would use the front gate, it could be a training exercise but then why would they mask their Chakra.'

One of his father's rules floated to his mind.

_Always' trust your instincts._

He knew something was off, every part of him screamed to look into it further, he decided he would inform the Hokage about this first, village safety came before anything else, he also had an overwhelming urge to go check on Hinata and he didn't know why.

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><p>Hinata barely managed to stay on her feet due to tiredness, she didn't really like sparring with her cousin but her improvement was clear when she had actually managed to strike him, he was so surprised, the look on his face still made her smile. 'Naruto-kun's training worked.' she thought a bittersweet happiness set in, she hadn't seen the blonde in a few days, she knew why but she wished he would hurry up. She was so tired she didn't feel the presence of the people around her till it was too late, the struck her lightly on the neck and she collapsed.<p>

The offender caught her "All right let's go."

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><p>As Naruto neared the Hokage tower, the feeling only got worse, specifically when he saw a white haired Anbu member flying over the rooftops 'They would only move that fast if…' Naruto stared intently at the window's of the third's office. Focusing his Chakra Naruto ran up and stayed low under the window channeling a small amount of Chakra into his ears so he could hear inside better.<p>

"Please try to remain calm Hiashi-sama, we have every available ninja out looking for her right now." The voice was Sarutobi's.

"My eldest daughter is kidnapped and you tell me to remain calm!" The other voice snapped, Naruto stifled his gasp "I will go and join the search parties myself."

Naruto looked over the rooftop's, he left his tools in his apartment and there was no way he could do anything without them, he gritted his teeth and ran towards his home. 'Hinata you better be alright.' He thought furiously.

_In the midst of confusion, sort out all possible scenarios. Get the facts straight and come up with your own conclusion._

Naruto had a pretty good idea what was going on, Hinata had been kidnapped likely to be held for ransom or for her Bloodline trait.

_Never act impulsively. Gather necessary information before taking action._

Naruto slammed his pouch onto his leg and unclipped his weights, diving from his balcony he continued towards where he had felt the signature earlier that day, 'If they came into the village from there, likely they would leave the same way, it's the least guarded one because of the mountain ranges.' He continued to try and set up their plan in his mind, the more he knew about them they easier this fight would be. Naruto landed on top of the wall and extended his senses, hoping to get a flicker of their Chakra. He found it, the faint Chakra signature of someone who was asleep or unconscious that meant it was likely Hinata, masking his own Chakra he bolted forward.

He stopped on a high branch, his Chakra still masked three cloud Ninja were camped out below him, they probably thought they had gotten far enough, one was awake while the other two slept, his eyes scanned around till he found Hinata, he was blindfolded and tied to a tree, she looked unharmed, he let out a relieved breath as he continued to study the ninja's in front of him. He felt around his pouch, counting what he had, 'Three of my paralysis tag's, damn it I knew I should have drawn up more.' Naruto silently cursed, that ruled out using Senbon to try and attach them, there was too high a risk the Ninja's would deflect or dodge which means he had to get close. Judging from their appearance, the Ninja in front of him were tired, whereas he was only slightly winded, he thanked his stamina and the weights.

_When you have the upper hand, press it to the limit._

So he would attack them quickly, they were likely on edge awaiting an attack so he would conceal the fact they only had one opponent, he crossed his fingers and spawned a few dozen shadow clones, the spread out around the group.

_Deception is one of the most valuable assets of a ninja._

Another thing he had to do was make sure this battle did not drag on too long, these ninja had to be high Chunin mid Jonin, to take a mission like this infiltration. He would need to end this battle quickly and decisively.

_When you make the first move in a battle, Hit hard and fast._

His eyes narrowed, he was in the best position he could be in.

Naruto moved slightly closer, each ninja had a short Katana strapped on their waste and the sentry scanned he surrounding brush periodically. Naruto inhaled slowly and imitated a bird call, the hail of shuriken launched at them. The sentry shouted and the other two bounded to their feet weapons to hand almost instantly deflected the deadly rain, Naruto's clones continued the assault.

"Form up!" One of them shouted, the three turned swiftly connection their shoulder to guard all angles, Naruto smiled in the current situation they had left the perfect gap in between them, in a swirl of leaves he was in the small gap, he removed a tag from his pouch and slammed it onto the first of them to react before kicking the other two away, channeling a bit of Chakra into the seal, the man convulsed suddenly and fell to the ground, Naruto wrapped another tag around a Senbon and uttered a silent prayer as he sent it flying towards one of the surprised ninja, it struck him in the back and he let out a cry of pain before the seal activated, he fell to he ground with a soft thud. Naruto leapt away from the last one who had recovered. Naruto gritted his teeth.

_Things don't always go according to plan. Adapt and respond to the new situation._

Naruto pulled two Kunai from his pouch he tossed on and charged, the man deflected it easily before blocking Naruto's next attack the two locked for a moment before the man broke it and swiped at Naruto's head, Naruto dropped low and flipped backwards avoiding the follow up attack, he tossed another kunai and pulled a smoke bomb from his pouch, throwing it into the ground he used the smoke to make another clone, before jumped back up into the tree and preparing the tag. He focused on the clone more making it a little strong and harder to beat. the man rushed it, the clone ducked and weaved before the man attempted to run him through, the real Naruto smirked from his perch 'Got you.' He thought triumphantly, the clone raised his hand, the sword going right threw before locking his grip on the cloud ninja's hand, the clone grabbed the man and locked him down as Naruto threw the last tag attached to a senbon, it hit the man in the leg and Naruto channeled his Chakra, the man stopped moving and his tougher clone dispersed. Naruto dropped back down and panted, his Chakra usage catching up to him. He ran over to Hinata, cutting the ropes and pulling the blindfold and gag out of her mouth, he sighed in relief when she looked at him in surprise. He pressed his forehead against hers and inhaled deeply the familiar scent filling his head 'She is all right…Safe.' he thought a smile on his face.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata's worried tone made him open his eyes, she was looking at his hand. A trickled of blood flowed from the now open wound.

"It's all right it's just a scratch," Naruto reassured, he wasn't lying but she still looked at him worriedly "Hinata-chan, are you alright did they hurt you at all?"

Hinata shook her head "N-no, t-they left me u-unharmed."

Naruto sighed in relief "I'm glad I managed to catch up to you."

Hinata let a few tears fall from her eyes "I-If wasn't so w-weak t-they never would h-have got me i-in the first p-place."

Naruto cupped her cheek and gave her a warm smile, he rubbed the last few tears away from her face "You are not weak Hinata, You are one of the most beautiful and strongest people I know."

He breath caught and she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry I reacted like that the other day," He bowed his head slightly, she smiled and let a small laugh escape her she gently raised his head so she could look into his eyes again.

Blue met pale lavender for a minute they stayed like that,, Hinata's hand resting lazily on his cheek.

"I'm glad you came to save me Naruto-kun." She said genuinely "If it was anyone else I wouldn't be able to do this." she added leaning forward and placing a long kiss on his lips, his hand moved and tangled in her purple locks, they pulled back after a moment to breath. Naruto leaned his head against her again and smiled.

"I'll always come to save you Hinata-chan….Always." He stood up, picking her up bridal style he jumped back into the tree's, moving towards the village. she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

* * *

><p>"Anything from any of the units?" Hiashi demanded angrily, he had joined the search for hours before coming back to see if there was any news.<p>

The Hokage shook his head "Nothing yet, we will find her Hiashi."

"Father!" Hiashi's head snapped around as Hinata ran into the room, followed albeit a little slowly a rather pale and bleeding Naruto, the cur on his hand was a little worse than he let on, Hinata wrapped her arms around her father tightly. Who returned the embrace wholeheartedly, looking over the girls head at the aspiring blonde ninja, he mouthed a thank you.

Naruto nodded, smiled and bowed "Hokage-sama, you will find the three cloud ninja's that are responsible east of the village. "

The Hokage nodded recalling a team of Anbu to go and collect the perpetrators "Well after such an ordeal our young Heiress must be tired."

Hinata nodded sleepily and Hiashi gathered her up in his arms, giving Naruto another thankful look as he left. The Hokage turned back to Naruto as the door closed "Now let's have a look at that hand while you explain."

Naruto fell heavily into the couch in the office as Sarutobi began to bandage up his hand, Naruto began recounting what happened, leaving out the kiss and his sort of confession of course.

Sarutobi nodded "Well on behalf of the leaf village I thank you for your fast thinking and action Naruto."

Naruto smiled and yawned loudly "You think the leaf village will let me sleep for awhile?"

Sarutobi chuckled and nodded "I will take care of the rest don't worry."

Naruto nodded appreciatively before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, it only took a few minutes before he landed heavily on his bed, he didn't even bother removing his pouch he just let his exhaustion take him.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I am still undecided on the Japanese or English names for the Jutsu's your opinions seem to be split down the middle I am leaning towards English, just because it is easier for me to write but I am still thinking.**


	6. Meet the Family

**A/N: Life happened and stuff so I went on a short break, but I am back!**

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><p>Naruto brought his elbow up and deflected a kick, he pushed it away and spun inwards sending his elbow out his opponent, Sasuke, ducked under it and threw a punch as Naruto's stomach who jumped back to avoid the blow. Both of them had been sparring for the better part of two hours and neither had landed anything, Naruto of course had his weights on. Sasuke rocked back on his heels and sat down letting out a long breath.<p>

"So why was it so important that today we sparred on one of my training grounds?" Sasuke asked flatly as Naruto fell down beside him.

"My usual ground is…occupied at the moment." Naruto answered cryptically.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your rescue of  
>Hinata right? I heard the ninja's you fought were low level Jonin." Sasuke pressed.<p>

Naruto shrugged "A little."

"I heard you gained a following." Sasuke continued staring up at the sky absently peered at Naruto through the corner of his eyes.

Naruto paled slightly his 'following' were in every way like Sasuke's fan girls, at least the shop owners treated him better "Yeah, I guess."

"You can use this ground, but you owe me a favor…something big." Sasuke said simply.

Naruto looked at him slightly surprised "What's this favor?"

"I'm just going to ask you for a little help as a friend." Sasuke answered carefully

Naruto poked him in the side "This wouldn't have anything to do with Sakura right?"

Sasuke's cheeks reddened slightly and he turned away "Course not, I don't have any interest in any of my fan girls."

Naruto hit him lightly with a closed fist atop the head, Sasuke shot him a glare that he ignored "What If I said I have a plan?"

Sasuke's eyebrows raised slightly.

Naruto just continued "Look it's really simple ask her to be your sparring partner, that way she gets stronger and you get to hang out with her then when you grow a pair you can ask her out."

"Your one to talk about dating, you're so blind I am honestly surprised they let you in the Academy." Sasuke retorted.

Sasuke didn't miss the fact that Naruto blushed and brushed against this lips slightly, he put two and two together "Wait! You kissed Hinata?!" It was more a demand than a question.

"Yes, No…Shut up." Naruto tried to deflect before standing up "I'm going out, anyway just do what I told you."

Sasuke chuckled "Whatever you say lover-boy."

Naruto glared at him "I'll take the weights off." he growled threateningly.

Sasuke waved his hands defensively "All right all right."

"I mean it Sasuke, Hinata got grounded so we haven't had the chance to talk about thing properly so keep your mouth shut, or your crush is going to painted on the Hokage monument." Naruto threatened.

"You wouldn't." Sasuke actually looked scared.

"If it buy your silence, I will happily, I stay quiet you stay quiet, deal?" Naruto offered his hand to shake on it.

"Deal." Sasuke said quickly.

Naruto nodded.

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><p>Hinata sneezed suddenly and her cousin frowned at her "Are you all right?" He asked out of obligation, if she was sick he had to make sure she stopped her training and went to bed.<p>

"I'm fine." Hinata responded meekly, dropped into her stance again.

* * *

><p>"Forehead I ain't your Handkerchief!" Ino snapped not at all happy about being showered in her old friends snot.<p>

"Shut up pig, I said I'm sorry." Sakura shot back with a glare.

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><p>Naruto walked along the street's of Konoha deep in thought, he noticed someone her recognized trying, and failing, to manage a few hundred bags of whatever they were trying to carry, he jogged up and took some of the load off.<p>

"Here, let me help you with that," He offered as he took half the stack from the small brown haired girl.

"Oh, thanks Naruto," Ten-ten said as she recognized him "What's up?"

"Nothing, just thinking are you supposed to be carrying all this on your own?" He asked a little concerned.

"Well, one of my teammates was supposed to come help me but he is late as usual," Tenten complained, he caught the tsk and murmured 'Neji' but decided to ignore it "So what are you thinking about mister hero."

"As I said nothing really, just things," Naruto answered flatly "So where are we going with this?"

"The Hyuuga manor, it is all the gear they requested and that's why Neji was supposed to help me out…It is for his family." Tenten explained as they walked.

"Oh, then I'm killing two birds with one stone, I wanted to check up on that girl anyway." Naruto said simply.

"Oh, you mean Hinata she is really nice…Especially compared to her family I don't think they realize how strong she is." Tenten replied

Naruto nodded "Her family is a little…extreme."

"More like utterly crazy, I mean they treat kindness as weakness and they think emotion is a bad thing, I mean I know in the Shinobi world emotions aren't exactly a widely used thing but they are still human." Tenten half lectured half complained.

Naruto just nodded and remained silent as they continued towards the mansion that housed the Hyuuga clan.

The guards stopped them as they approached the door, Tenten showed them an order note and they got through relatively easy, one of them actually bowed to Naruto, there were perks to being a hero…There were also downsides.

"You can place them down there," The guard directed them to small space next to a shed "Someone else will unpack them, I am sure lady Tenten wishes to see Neji he is training with Hinata on the grounds just through those doors." He nodded towards a set of large double doors and spun on is heel and walked away from the pair.

Naruto walked up to the door's casually and opened them, he peered around for a second, a boy with long hair stood with his back turned to him, he could see Hinata over his head and he smiled, he leaned against the wall to the left of the door to wait for the match to end, he wanted to see Hinata was doing anyway.

"Oi! Neji! You left me to carry _your_ families order on my own, you're lucky Naruto here was nice enough to help me or I'd be giving you a beating from here to next week!" Tenten yelled at him, the boy spun around in both surprise and Naruto noticed a minor amount of worry.

Neji's eyes narrowed on Naruto who currently was leaning on the pale white walls of the Hyuuga training grounds Naruto stared back impassively.

**"I don't like this brat, he radiates contempt like its oxygen." Kurama announced**

Naruto continued their small staring contest before Neji snorted and turned around facing Hinata again, the two began training once more and Tenten sulked beside Naruto.

"He could at least apologize." She complained as she sat down.

Naruto grimaced and continued to observe.

**"That's on odd amount of chakra to be building for a spar," Kurama noted as he watched through Naruto's eyes "Kit! He is going to hurt that girl severely if he hits her!"**

Naruto dropped the weights off his wrists and shot forward, Grabbing Neji's arm and turning it around his back before placing his foot on the center of his back and forcing him into the ground, Neji grunted in pain and attempted to move after it hurt him more he stayed still.

"N-Naruto-kun, W-Why D-did y-you?" Hinata started.

"There was too much Chakra in that strike, it would have caused some heart damage and come close to killing you." Naruto growled at the boy he was currently pinning to the ground.

Neji remained silent, Naruto pressed his foot in harder "What's the meaning of this, from what I know about the Hyuuga you branch member's are supposed to protect them!" Naruto snapped.

"It is illogical for the strong to protect the weak, Hinata is nothing but a disgrace to both the Hyuuga and the Shinobi world." Neji retorted.

"Oh, so kindness really is treated as weakness here? What about the hundred of innocent lives we are promised to protect, they are mostly kind hearted people are they weak too? Should we destroy and kill them as well?" Naruto yelled angrily continuing to apply weight to the boys back.

"It doesn't matter, fate will do what it has planned whether we like it or not, Hinata will always be weak, you will always be weak." Neji spat.

Naruto growled and pulled him to his feet before shoving him across the ground "If you're so sure, let's see what you can do." He challenged.

"I am a prodigy in this clan boy, do you really think you can beat me?" Neji taunted.

Naruto rolled his shoulder's and brought his fists up "I am no ordinary Ninja, you would do well to remember that."

Neji sneered and charged him, palm raised back he threw it at Naruto's chest, Naruto side stepped and slammed his foot into Neji's stomach the boy lurched forward and coughed Naruto rolled back out of the way of the kick that was sent his way ad stood up, bringing his hand up again "Where is this superior strength you are supposed to be showing me?" Naruto taunted.

Neji growled and charged again, Naruto ducked and slammed his fist into the boy's open stomach again, he grabbed Neji's arm and flipped him over on his back, he landed with a heavy thud and Naruto pressed his foot back on the boy's chest locking him on the ground.

"Why did you try to hurt Hinata? Why do you think you are so entitled!?" Naruto demanded.

Neji gritted his teeth and threw his free arm into Naruto's ankle, he winced and jumped away, Neji glared at Naruto as Naruto rolled his ankle around releasing the Tenketsu in his foot after a few moments, Neji brought his hands behind his head and let his headband clatter to the floor, revealing the caged bird seal on his forehead he simply pointed at it "This is why I hate the main Family, they do this to me and kill my father then expect me to bow my head and protect them?"

"Hinata killed you father did she?" Naruto fired back "You can hold a grudge against a group of people for the misdeeds of one! Be glad you had bonds at all!"

Naruto shout forward, Neji managed to block a few strikes but Naruto's training showed through even for the Byakugan Naruto was fast enough to avoid everything Neji threw at him, Naruto jumped back and ran forward again Neji threw his palm forward and Naruto slid underneath it bringing his fist up into the boy's stomach again, Naruto rolled back on his hands and slammed his foot into Neji's chin, as Neji went into the air Naruto jumped up and brought his heel down sending Neji back into the dirt.

"What is the meaning of this!" The voice of Hiashi Hyuuga was easily discernible and he was not happy.

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><p><strong>AN: What's Hiashi gonna do? Well you'll have to wait and see, oh this was supposed to come out yesterday but my internet was down so yeah.**


	7. A Discussion, Another Change

**A/N: It's been a week? Wow time flies when you can't move for half a week, So after my Ultimate cliffhanger no Jutsu last week I hope you enjoy this XD (I had to make the joke alright? Sue me.)**

**Oh and Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but plan's are in place to rectify this mistake of nature :P.**

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><p>"What is the meaning of this!" The voice of Hiashi Hyuuga was easily discernible and he was not happy.<p>

Naruto watched the Hyuuga clan head as he glared at him in confusion and anger, well Naruto had just destroyed the clan prodigy in a fight, 'Maybe that was a little too much.' Naruto thought quickly, before resuming his original demeanor, watching the Clan head closely.

"F-Father!" Hinata ran in front of Naruto and actually glared at her old man, Naruto was surprised but he would not get in Hinata's way.

"Since you all can't seem to find your tongue's I will ask again! What is the meaning of this?!" Hiashi demanded

"Naruto-kun was protecting me father." Hinata spoke with a determination that startled even Hiashi, he recovered quickly.

"Protecting you? In your own house? From Who?!" Hiashi demanded again.

"Neji-sama and I were sparring and he got a little carried away, He was going to use too much chakra in a hit against me that would cause serious heart damage, Naruto-kun Intervened before anything bad happened." Hinata explained, again surprising everyone with the lack of stuttering.

Hiashi looked from Neji to Naruto then to Hinata, he pointed at Naruto "Do you believe it was an intentional attempt to murder the daughter of a clan head?"

Naruto shook his head, he knew his answer was life or death for the boy "No Hiashi-sama, I do not believe it was an attempt at Hinata-Chan's life, I believe it was an accident brought on by frustration."

Hiashi nodded "Neji, you will be sure to make it up to my daughter, you may be a prodigy but you are not above her….Remember that."

Naruto spoke up "Hiashi-sama, if you do not mind there are a few things I wish to discuss with you."

The clan head looked at the blonde in confusion before gesturing for him to follow, Naruto turned his head back to Hinata and mouthed something, he wasn't sure if she understood him or not.

* * *

><p>Hinata smiled, he told her not to worry and oddly enough she wasn't she had complete faith in Naruto. She looked at the battered form of Neji Hyuuga, who was struggling to get off the ground. She walked over and knelt down before helping him to his feet.<p>

"Why? Why would you and that boy help me?" Neji asked confused.

"I don't know why your father died and I do not know why you blame me. But all I have ever been is kind to you, I am not going to stop now because you were angry." Hinata spoke almost defiantly.

Neji felt ashamed, he blamed the main Family for everything that happened to him, the words Naruto had spoken bounced around in his head 'Be glad you had bonds at all!' it was no secret that Naruto Uzumaki was an orphan and a child prodigy that rivaled the Yondaime, Neji watched the blonde round a corner at the end of yard and he smiled "I'm sorry, Hinata-sama."

Hinata smirked "You know Neji-nii-san you are a bit heavy, maybe you should lay off the sweets."

Neji paled, as a ninja he had to remain in top physical condition, but as a human he couldn't live without eating chocolate his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the soft giggling of Hinata, Tenten joined in a moment later and that's when he realized she was joking. He merely frowned at her.

* * *

><p>Naruto slid the door shut behind him as he entered Hiashi's study, The man sat opposite a large desk and stared at the blonde impassively.<p>

"Before I begin, I would like you to hear out everything I have to say." Naruto said flatly.

Hiashi merely nodded.

"The first thing I would like to say, is that was not an accident, Neji really did try to hurt Hinata," Hiashi's eyes narrowed but Naruto continued before the man could speak "The fault is no one's but your own, He blames Hinata for the death of his father and he Hated the main family because of the seal you placed on him."

Hiashi remained in his stoic visage and just watched Naruto.

"I did my own research into your clan, I assume you know about my own heritage?" Naruto asked

Hiashi nodded again.

"How could you let something as inhumane be put on your own nephew?!" Naruto practically shouted "I may not have a family of my own, but last I checked your _all_ supposed to help each other! Why does a branch family even exist? You are all from the _same_ bloodline. How could you be this weak!"

"Watch yourself boy, I will not be openly insulted for traditions going to back to the foundation of this village." Hiashi warned in a level tone.

"Shall I call it kindness?" Naruto demanded, Hiashi's eyes widened slightly "Tradition is the corpse of wisdom! Holding onto something that is tearing your family apart is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life!"

"It doesn't matter, the elder's will never let that seal be removed." Hiashi actually looked regretful.

"You are the clan head, Take control of your clan." Naruto forced himself into a level tone.

Hiashi stared at him for a minute before sighing "That seal took my brother from me, I want to do everything I can to avoid the same fate for Neji."

"If you will permit me, I think I may be able to remove it." Naruto announced determinedly

"How?" Hiashi asked, genuinely curious.

"I will need to examine the seal, but according to original document's my father copied, the caged bird-seal was meant for criminal's of the Hyuuga clan used as a way to continue to send them on mission's and destroy their heritage should they be killed, essentially making a martyr of them."

Hiashi frowned, he had never heard of that. But if he could get his hands on those that would mean the elder's were enforcing a tradition that didn't exist. He would finally be rid of the accursed seal.

Naruto pulled a set of scroll's from his coat "I think my father knew you would need these at some point." Naruto said with a smile, he bit the tip of his finger and swiped the seal, with a puff of smoke a few more scroll were on the floor in front of the clan head. The man picked them up and sure enough they contained exactly what he needed.

"I needed to be sure you didn't want the seal," Naruto said simply "I hope you take control of the clan, for Neji's sake and your brothers."

Hiashi merely nodded.

As Naruto turned to leave before the voice of the clan head stopped him "Thank you, you have saved my daughter twice and now you have helped me with one of my longest running goals."

Naruto smiled widely "It's my pleasure. Um, Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi looked up, wondering what spurred the sudden respectful tone "Hm?"

"Would you permit me to begin dating your oldest daughter?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Hiashi's eyes narrowed at the boy in front of him, before he took another breath "Who my daughter dates is her own decision, but you have my blessing to ask her…You have proven your ability to protect her."

Naruto nodded his thanks and left the room.

Hiashi used every meditation technique he knew to stop himself from chasing the boy down and threatening him with every form of pain from here to heaven and hell.

* * *

><p>Naruto let out a breath he had been holding for an unknown amount of time, at least that went moderately well, although he could do without the wave of killing intent hitting him when he asked about Hinata. Naruto rubbed his hands together slowly and took long deep breaths, he had just insulted a clan head 'What the hell am I doing?! I could have just gotten myself killed!' He sank down onto a small section of grass and continued to suck in air.<p>

"N-Naruto-kun." He opened his eyes and turned his head to see the shy Hyuuga heiress looking at him curiously.

"Hey Hinata-chan, are you alright? You didn't get hurt did you?" His voice contained concern and it made her smile.

"No, I'm alright." She said sitting down beside him "What do you talk to my father about?"

Naruto paled slightly "Lots of things, I think he cares more about your family than he lets on…I gave him what he needed to take control of this clan properly, make it into a proper family."

Hinata gasped "B-But h-h-how?"

Naruto smiled "I want to tell you Hinata-chan, but I am not allowed to by order of the Hokage, I am sorry….As soon as I am able I will tell you everything I promise."

Hinata's curiosity only grew as she watched him stare out over the horizon at the sun, now setting and splitting the sky in one of Konoha's best sunset's.

"O-okay N-Naruto-kun. I won't ask again, not until you are able to tell me." Hinata responded.

He smiled warmly at her "There's something else I talked about with your father."

"Hm?" Hinata hummed her question.

Naruto got to his feet "Hinata Hyuuga, it would be my great honor if you would accompany me on a dinner date tomorrow night." He bowed respectfully and bowed his head, Hinata swayed dangerously before digging her nails into her palm, the pain brought her out of the near fainting spell and made her realize this was in fact real 'Well we did kiss, but I still have trouble believing it.'

"Hinata-chan, you kind of need to answer." Naruto remained as he looked up into her eyes.

"Y-Y-Yes." she stuttered out.

Naruto smiled a wide warm smile at her as she took his hand, She smiled back, both at him and at the fact that she had remained conscious the whole time.

"What happened to Neji?" Naruto asked

"T-T-Tenten is l-looking a-after h-him." Hinata responded.

"Would you mind showing me to where he is, there is something I need to take a look at." Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and they set off back towards the training field, where all this had started. Neji laid down on the ground with his eyes closed his head resting on Tenten's lap as she dabbed at the dirt and grime on his face. At the sound of people approaching he opened his eyes and sat up, it was light but his cheek's did color slightly red.

"Just stay still alright," Naruto half order half warned "I don't want to mess this up."

Neji frowned at him, Hinata just gave him a reassuring nod and he nodded at Naruto, after positioning himself better, Naruto kneeled down and closed his eyes before placing his hand on Neji's forehead.

"All right Kurama hoe are we going to do this?" Naruto asked his tenant.

**"Hm, this is an old seal and so they are actually quite easy to remove if you know how they are made, give me a moment." Kurama billowed.**

Naruto waited what seemed like an hour, when it was only a minute or so.

"**Ah, this is a layered seal, each part is set to activate a certain way, unraveling it is quite easy in fact, Hold on a moment." Kurama announced.**

Naruto stayed still and Neji watching him curiously, that was when a very small amount of Chakra, trickled into the seal on Neji's forehead, Neji was very worried 'Was he order to kill me? Did he tell Hiashi the truth after all?!"

"Don't move!" Naruto shouted in his concentration "Don't worry, I am not going to kill you."

Neji was not all convinced, but Naruto's tone told him moving _would _kill him, so he froze and waited. Naruto stayed in the same place.

**"And the last part," Kurama kept a running commentary going as he used Naruto's body to unravel the seal on the young Hyuuga's forehead "And finished…You can move again."**

Naruto sighed in relief and stepped back, Neji looked up at him confused, Before Hinata gasped, her hand's closed in front of her mouth as she peered over them at her Cousin. Neji stared at everyone around him, before snatching up his head band and turning it to face himself, The reflection of his face stared back at him, as he watched the seal on his had began to melt away before completely disappearing.

"H-H-How?" Neji asked in surprise.

"Hiashi is more understanding than you realize, I think you should go see him, let him explain himself and the death of your father." Naruto smiled.

Neji nodded "I think I will."

And with that the Hyuuga boy ran out of the courtyard, Naruto swayed before falling backwards, he was surprised when he didn't hit the ground, he forced his eyes to open, he looked straight into the concerned eyes of Hinata Hyuuga, He gave her a wanly smile trying to reassure her.

"It's just Chakra exhaustion, that seal is incredibly intricate." Naruto managed to breath out before he slipped from consciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So How do you like it? I had the idea of changing the lore behind the seal yesterday I think I did a pretty good job. Now to clear some things up, This story is only slightly on cannon, Now here are the biggest changes, Neji's team graduated a year early therefore they are one year ahead of Naruto and the rest of my undecided team seven, they will still end up in the Chunin exam's together and they will become friends over this chapter and the next few, Hiashi as you can see is sort of stern and he hides his true feelings from everyone around him. Naruto's age is currently Thirteen, same with everyone in his class. I am not sure if there will be the training trip with Jiraiya as he is a friend to Kurama and he is gaining strength on his own. I hope that clears up any overwhelming questions you may have. Peace**


	8. I Can't Make That Promise

**A/N: Sorry this wasn't released yesterday, It was my little sister's birthday so I was out till late and then the website had some issues and I couldn't get the chapter up, so it's late but it's out :D**

Naruto's eyes opened slowly, he stared at the white ceiling for a few minutes while his memories sorted themselves up, moonlight illuminated the room he was in, he sat up and looked around it seemed like he was asleep in the Hyuuga mansion. He stood up and walked to the door, he slid it open slowly and looked down each hallway, it was almost eerily quite as he stepped into the hall, his own footfalls rang in his ear's clearly. He got to a small open wood platform, he walked to the edge and looked up at eh night sky taking a long inhale, the cool night air zipping through his system chased away the last remnants of drowsiness. He stood there for a few minutes in silent meditation before spinning around heading towards the room he woke up, partly because he didn't know where he front gate was from his current position and he wanted to speak with Hinata anyway, so he would merely pretend he had slept through the night. He rounded a corner into a long thin hallway when the sound of an extra pair of footstep's caught his attention, he heard a whistle and he rolled forward a Kunai grazing the top of his head cutting a few strands of his hair off. He glared down the hallway at the set of three attackers. They brandished another set of knives and tossed them at him, the hallway was too thin to dodge them all, he lifted his leg and stomped a chakra enhanced foot into the floorboard, with a crunch the nail's pulled free and the board flew up vertically the three knives embedded into the wood, the tips pierced cleanly through. He lifted his leg and booted the board back down the hall before running back around the hall, he heard one of the three shout in pain as the board slammed into him, he found the wooden plateau and he turned looking at the three door's on either side of him. They opened in unison, one of the attacker's in each door leaving him with retreating outside or fighting them here.

The men all wore masks but their eyes were all he needed to see to gather where they were from, three sets of pupiless lavender eyes stared at him angrily.

"You are meddling in affair's that do not concern you Demon brat," The man in the centre spat "That weak excuse for a clan-head and his useless family shall be dealt with as well, this should teach everyone what happens when you cross the elder's of the Hyuuga clan!"

Naruto lowered his stance slightly, he didn't have his punch on him, these men were trained in the Hyuuga fighting style and he had no strong ranged Jutsu's to work with, this was going to come down to his skill in Taijutsu alone. He pulled his sleeves back and the weights disconnected with his arms a moment later and loud clank was heard as the devices hit the ground, he followed with the weights on his legs.

"I don't have all night," Naruto retorted "Let's see what you can do."

The three men's eyes narrowed as they charged him, Naruto dropped low and pushed off a wooden support beam sliding underneath the blow's he whipped his leg around and caught the ankle of the man on the left, he let out a loud groan of pain as the blow dislocated the ankle and he fell heavily to the ground, Naruto rolled onto his back and brought his leg across in a wide sweeping motion,, the other two jumped the blow but the man on the ground caught the kick to the chin, slamming the back of his head into the wood and knocking him out. Naruto flipped up and faced the remaining two men.

Naruto's hair whipped around him as someone flew past him, his eyes widened as he recognized the long haired boy as he glared down the larger Hyuuga member before said boy slammed his palm's into the would be assassin on the left.

When Neji's hands stopped he jumped away, leaving the man to sway for a few minutes before crumpling completely to the ground.

"Naruto," Neji said sharply, Naruto turned his head only slightly keeping one eyes trained on the other man "I will take care of this, please go check on Hinata and Hanabi."

Naruto stood there for only a moment before nodding "All right, I will leave it to you."

Neji gave him a curt nod and Naruto spun around before sprinting off.

"How Dare you!" The remained Hyuuga spat "Raising you hand against a main branch member is forbidden for the trash of the branch family like you."

Neji straightened and rolled his neck slightly glaring at the man in front of him "How dare I?" He all but growled "How Dare you! You have threatened a honored guest of the Hyuuga household and openly threatened the clan-head and his family. The Elder's are soon to lose all of their so called 'power' and there will be nothing left of tool's like you."

The man let out a guttural growl as he charged Neji, the prodigies eyes flared as he activated his Byakugan "8 trigram's, 64 palms." He said strongly. The man slid to a stop in panic before the strikes connected, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty two, sixty four. Neji spun on his heel and delivered a powerful kick to the man's chest sending him sprawling next to his comrades.

Naruto rounded a corner to see Hiashi, walking almost casually down the hall, the man raised an eyebrow at Naruto.

"I see you are up and moving." He spoke in the same flat tone as always

Naruto's mouth dropped open, 'maybe nothing happened to Hiashi yet? Well he is one of the strongest in the Hyuuga maybe they are targeting the younger ones as leverage?' The thought raced through Naruto's mind and he forced his head to calm.

_Never act impulsively._

He raised his eyes to level with the clan head "Hiashi-sama, I believe your daughter's are in danger…I was attacked moment's ago by men who claimed the elder's are attempting to remove you from your position."

Hiashi made no visual indication that he was threaten, but the spike in murderous intent his Naruto like a train "Hiashi-sama, please collect your daughter's and escape quickly." Naruto bowed.

"You expect me to run?! I will not lose to some stuck up fools. I will annihilate them for this." Hiashi hand tightened into fists.

"Hiashi," Naruto said sharply drawing the man into a more reasonable state "It is important that you and both of your daughter's survive to present this information to the Hokage."

Hiashi glared at the boy for a few minutes before his eyes changed and he nodded "The document's you gave me are still in my office. I will need to collect them and-" Naruto raised his hand.

"I will get the document's, you retrieve your daughter's. I will meet you at the gate in four minutes." Naruto didn't leave the man an time to argue, he all but disappeared as he flew past Hiashi, who watched surprised at the boy's speed before shaking his head and moving quickly towards his daughter's rooms.

Naruto flew through the door and picked up the stack of paper's on the clan head's desk, he flicked through them and found the small file he had seen Hiashi place his father's notes in, he opened it and made sure they were all there.

"So, they are the document's we need to destroy." Naruto's head snapped to the masked man in the doorway, same as the last ones…The eyes of Hyuuga, clothed completely in black.

"This is impressive, not only to I save my clan, I get to destroy the demon of the village." The man taunted.

Naruto slid the file into his coat and watched the man impassively.

"No one will be sad yo see you go," The man continued to taunt "That insufferable clan heads weakness will soon be dealt with as well. You cannot save them." The man's tone was level.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, before cracking his knuckles loudly "You wish to save your clan? All I hear is empty word's. Words of a weak willed man attempting to stand against change."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"Change is unstoppable, even if you removed these document's and killed the clan head, the Hokage would know about it….You clan would be disgraced and cast out." Naruto spoke flatly.

"The Hokage has no jurisdiction in clan affairs!" The man shouted as he charged, Naruto dropped low and flipped the desk in front of him, the man's hand flew through the wood and Naruto grabbed the wrist, slamming it down, the loud crack of bones being snapped echoed around the small office, followed by the man's pained howl as chards of wood stabbed into the broken hand, Naruto slammed his foot into the desk, it went clean through and founds the man stomach, he heard the loud cough and Naruto flipped the desk over, the man's arm still stuck in the wood was pulled with it. Naruto glared down at the man before pulling his leg up and slamming the heel on the man's nose.

Naruto sprinted from the room, he had lost time, he just hoped Hinata was okay. He rounded the corner, Hinata looked around worriedly and Hiashi seemed slightly more pale, one of his hand's gripped his stomach and his face showed little hints of the pain he was in. Naruto ran over to them, he regarded Hiashi's wound and looked to Hinata.

"Naruto-kun!" She squeaked, she wanted to jump out and hug him, but her little sister currently held on her back stopped her.

He nodded "I'm all right," He turned to Hiashi and looked at him seriously "Is it bad?" His eyes flickered to the to the bloody hand currently applying pressure to the left side of Hiashi's stomach.

Hiashi shook his head "I will be fine, it is barely a scratch…I will treat it when my daughter's are safe."

Hanabi lifted her tired head above Hinata's shoulders "Is everything all right? Where are we going?"

Naruto gave the girl a reassuring smile "Yeah, Everything is fine…You are going to stay at my place for a little while…It's safe and its nice and warm."

The little girl nodded happily, not fully understanding the situation she was in. Naruto raised his hand to his mouth and bit it harshly, catching the blood in a small sphere of Chakra, he moved the ball to Hiashi he took up it's hold almost immediately "When you get to my home, place this on the door, it will unlock. Go inside and wipe it off, the barrier is strong and it should keep anyone who doesn't have my blood out."

Hiashi watched the boy in front of him carefully, he knew the real reason the boy out the seal on the door…October tenth was not far away.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked at him questioningly.

"I will be along shortly," He smiled at the little girl again, she managed a tired smile back "Would you hold onto this for me? It is very important, don't drop it okay?"

The girl nodded, placing it against her chest and hugging it in between her and Hinata's back.

"What are you going to do?" Hinata questioned stepping forward slightly.

"I told you I was going to change your clan," Naruto said flatly "Go, and don't turn around…I will be there later."

"P-Promise?" Hinata managed.

Naruto smirked, he leaned forward and placed his lip's against the pale girls forehead, Hiashi didn't make a move to break the contact, he frowned and forced the urge to his Naruto away.

Hinata's cheeks colored and she turned away, Hiashi fell into step beside them as they opened the gate and looked around.

"Well, well, all the upstarts in the same place." The small group of black cloaked Hyuuga's watched Naruto and the three behind him.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted worriedly.

"Hiashi-sama, Go!" He turned his head slightly "Now." The man just nodded, grabbing his daughter with his free hand and concentrating on the sphere that contained their key to the boys home he dragged Hinata away.

Naruto let a bittersweet smile envelope his face 'I can't make any promises this time…Hinata-Hime.' He thought as he turned with a murderous glare at the men in front of him.

"You think you can defeat us all?" The man scoffed.

"Experience alone ensures our victory!" Another shouted.

"I'll give you an experience," Naruto growled "I'll send you all straight to hell!"

A/N: Ultimate Cliffhanger no Jutsu XD, well I hope you all enjoy this chapter…As you can see, the elder's are not taking kindly to their lies being brought into the light.


	9. Another Ally

"**Kage Bunshin No Justsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**!" Naruto shouted crossing his fingers in the correct hand seal, with a puff of smoke the group of traitorous Hyuuga were met with a group of angry Naruto's.

The two group's stared at each other openly challenging the other to make the first move, Naruto and his clone threw a few set's of shuriken, the Hyuuga's on the front jumped back and the ones in the middle spun around in a circle releasing chakra in a sphere to deflect the weapon's, Naruto guessed their formation was not just random, from the look of that the weakest are in the front, the ones in the middle can do the rotation and he assumed the ones in the back were of Jonin level.

They stayed in a standoff while Naruto's mind raced trying to figure a way around them, he doubted he could outrun a Jonin and he was not about to test himself in life and death, he needed a trump card and he didn't have one that meant he needed help, A clone slipped off the side of the group and went for the Hokage tower.

"Enough, Kill the demon brat and then find our clan leader." An older man commanded from behind the pack.

And then Naruto was on the defensive, he knew enough about the Hyuuga's fighting style to remain at as much distance as he could, his clones having his own ability were managing to avoid being broken for the time being but he was not fully recovered from unsealing Neji the day before and he was lethargic before the fighting started and he was certainly paying for it, his upper arm's burned a few of the Tenketsu shut off and others only partially closed, he ducked a palm strike aimed at his head and rolled sideways to avoid the three follow up strikes.

"Kurama, I need a little help here." Naruto sent into the back of his head.

**"Don't dodge the next strike.**" **Kurama ordered**.

Naruto didn't have time to argue or protest as a palm went for his chest, he gritted his teeth, as the blow neared contact a small wall of Chakra formed less than a millimeter from his chest, canceling out the attack, Naruto slammed his right hand into the Hyuuga's jaw knocking him out instantly and rolling backward before he got hit by another set of strikes from his comrades.

**"Okay, that is not a permanent solution I won't be able to block more than one at a time." Kurama explained quickly.**

One by one Naruto's clones took hits strong enough to break them, the fight still heavily against Naruto as he continued t back away from the large group of traitors, from the looks of things he had incapacitated ten of them all up, leaving twenty and since no more had joined it was safe to assume this was all of the men working for the elders against Hiashi.

One in the front got a little over eager and flew towards Naruto, He pivoted on his toe as the strike flew past his body, he grabbed the wrist and slammed his palm down on the boy's elbow, the sound of bone snapping rang out and Naruto delivered a roundhouse sending the boy sprawling in front of the group of masked Hyuuga's.

Naruto watched the rest, the advanced in a single group slowing surrounding him from where he was going over was not an option and he couldn't go through he doubted his chakra reserves had enough left in them to make a functioning clone, He just let out a growl and kept his eyes trained on the men around him.

"End of the line," One man taunted "Bit off more than you could chew, you demon piece of trash."

Naruto laughed "I am only just getting started." He lied, he only needed to buy time at this point.

"Arrogant till the end I see," Another said "Kill him."

The one directly in front of Naruto tossed a Kunai towards him, something flew from the right and the weapon bounced off it embedding into the ground a small distance away.

"You!" One of the masked men dashed into eh centre of the circle before removing his mask, revealing Neji Hyuuga.

"You precious Elder's are already in Anbu custody," Neji almost spat "Surrender now and none of you have to die."

"You are just as traitorous as Hiashi and his two failures disguised as Hyuuga." One of the black clothed Hyuuga's retorted.

Neji lowered his body into the Gentle fist stance "That is the last time you will insult the clan head or his family, this is the last time I will warn you….Surrender."

Naruto cracked his knuckles and stood back-to back with Neji watching the ten in front of him.

"Kill them both," The assumed leader spat "There is no way the Hokage knows about this yet, we can cover it up later."

"So Neji, you think you can handle your half?" Naruto asked with a small smile.

Neji chuckled slightly "I'm more worried about you."

Naruto rolled his neck and smiled "I am a little hurt you don't trust me Neji."

They couldn't banter ant further as the traitors pressed the attack, Naruto spun around and slammed his heel into the stomach of the Hyuuga he dodged, Ducking under another strike he grabbed the attackers wrist and flipped him over his shoulder delivering a quick kick to the chin to knock him out, A Kunai flew at him and with a flourish he deflected it with one of his own, he spun the Kunai from the loop in the hand and tossed it at a Kunai headed for Neji's blind spot the two weapons canceled each other out and fell to the ground, Naruto took three hits to the ribs and grunted as the Tenketsu closed and his left side got a little sluggish.

"Kurama, try to open my Tenketsu back up." Naruto said as he dodged another set aimed at his weak side.

Naruto's side felt relieved after a few moments and he ducked a kick before slamming his fist into the knee of the attacker, the man grunted and stumbled Naruto planted both his feet on his chest kicking him away and using him as a spring board as Neji spun around, clearing the centre as the black garbed Hyuuga's jumped away or were slammed by the wall of Chakra. Naruto crossed fingers.

"Kurama, you mind?" Naruto asked.

Naruto felt the foxes Chakra flow into him as an answer "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted, and a large group of him set upon the still recovering Hyuuga. The twenty had become ten and that ten were in between Neji and a circle of Naruto's, their hands raised.

"We Surrender!" They shouted in unison.

Naruto felt whatever energy he had left drain out of his legs and he fell backwards on his heels using his hands to keep himself from lying down and letting out a long sigh, a silver haired Anbu arrived a few moments later and congratulated the teens as they rested, as the group of unconscious or injured Hyuuga was carted off Naruto turned to Neji.

"Did the Anbu really get the Elder's? Or was that a bluff?" He asked simply, managing to get back on his feet.

"A bluff of course," Neji replied "I thought if they believed that their leaders were already in custody they would back down."

Naruto nodded "I better get back, don't want Hinata coming to get me."

Neji looked like he wanted to say something, but he closed his mouth and Naruto dismissed it as he exited the Hyuuga compound, his feet dragged and his walked towards his apartment as he neared it he didn't bother the stairs to his balcony his just jumped to the window in his living room, biting his thumb and dragging it over the lock the thing opened with a clicked and he all but collapsed through the window, catching himself before his face hit the floor he pushed himself to his feet and pulled the window closed before hitting his couch like a rock.

Naruto felt something against his cheek, he frowned in his sleep and turned his head the barrier in his house assured him no one else was inside, well at least _shouldn't_ be inside, he felt the same thing and his eyes snapped open and he turned his head back, a small chubby pale eyes girl crouched beside his couch looked at him for a few minutes and he just stared back before his memories came rushing to the forefront of his mind. The Girl help up a small light gold file and smiled.

"I didn't drop it." She boasted

He chuckled and ruffled her hair, he took the piece of paper back "Well done." He said simply as he stood up, the smell of bacon hit his nose and he walked to the kitchen sticking his head around the corner, Hinata swayed slowly as she hummed a tune standing by his stove, she had not noticed him yet, he silently placed the folder on the bench top and snuck towards her, he leaned in behind her ear and planted a kiss lightly, she started and jumped on her feet before whirling around in the process hissing him in the side of the head with the metal spatula in her hand, Naruto winced and rubbed his cheek.

"N-N-N-Naruto-kun?" She squeaked out

He just smiled "That was probably my own fault." He admitted.

She just stayed were she was frozen, one hand wielding the cooking utensil like it was a weapon and the other closed into a tight fist, before the utensil was sent into the wall with a clatter and she sprang forward wrapping her arms around his neck and locking him in a death grip.

"I was so worried about you! When did you get back? Why didn't you wake me up? What happened at the mansion?" The question were fired off one after the other while she continued to squeeze the blonde tighter.

"I'll tell you if you let me breathe!" Naruto managed to wheeze out.

It seemed to dawn on her what she had done and she jumped away with a loud eep and fixed her eyes on the floor and pressing her fingers together nervously her cheek's glowed crimson and she swayed for a few moments before shaking her head and pinching her arm, Naruto had his hands either side of her in case she were too faint.

She inhaled and her eyes seemed to widen more, she found the spatula and flipped the contents of the fry pan onto a plate before turning it off and sighing as she looked at the slightly burnt food.

Naruto stole a piece of the bacon and placed it in his mouth, suppressing a moan at the crunchy and salty pork he smiled at Hinata and leaned slightly closer, she watched him closely, to gauge his reaction or out of curiosity he was not sure "Perfect as always." He said simply.

She blushed and picked up the plate before moving it onto the round dining table, Hanabi gave an excited squeal as she darted for one of the chairs taking her set and serving herself the food quickly, Hinata sat beside Naruto and placed a few things on her own plate.

Naruto looked around "Where is Hiashi?"

"He went to a meeting with the Hokage and the Shinobi council." Hinata said simply.

Naruto nodded and ate a little slower than he usually wood.

Hinata stared at him intently until he returned her gaze, she quickly focused on her plate "You wanted to know what happened?"

Hinata nodded.

Naruto began recounting everything, he told her about his meeting with her father and everything after that. She just listened with rapt attention.

**A/N: I Hope you all enjoyed this, I hope it didn't seem to easy for Naruto and Neji or anything like that I had a bit of trouble coming up with the flow of this, anyway I will see you next week!**


	10. The Start of a Long Night

Naruto's alarm blared and finally stirred him from his rest, He rolled over and stared at the small clock on his dresser unhappily, It was his day off and he had forgotten to turn it off, he mentally berated himself for carelessness as he turned the thing off and laid back down on his back, he stared at the white of his ceiling and sighed, It was a day he had come to know as fox hunt day, October 10th, for everybody but him and the set of adults that would be chasing him through the village when happy hour ended. Even with everything that had happened in the village, The Hyuuga incident included he was still hated by a vast majority of the village, It wasn't like he ever thought that would clear all the hatred towards him, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth to think he would be running for his life, again.

**"Why not just kill them? It would not be difficult." Kurama suggested, although he knew the idea would get shot down.**

"Yes, Give the _Ninja_ population a reason to kill me, That plan seems sound." Naruto retorted sarcastically.

**"What about old man third? Can't he give you a place to stay out of a civilians reach?" Kurama offered afterwards.**

**"**The Civilian Council wouldn't allow it, They would call it favoritism." Naruto replied, He had already tried that one year as well.

"**So, Sit here and await your impending doom? Well, if you are going to wallow in self-pity I am going back to sleep, I don't have to deal with you." Kurama resigned.**

Naruto sighed "Happy birthday to me." He whispered as he got to his feet. He had slept in all but his coat so he retrieved the red and black fabric off of his dresser before leaving his home, He slid the jacket over his shoulders and made his way towards his favorite Ramen stand. A bell rang as he lifted a curtain and sat down.

"Welcome, Naruto, I would have thought you'd be earlier today, Don't you usually spoil yourself on your birthday?" Old man Teuchi smirked as he mirthfully taunted the youth.

"Yeah," Naruto responded dejectedly "Miso ramen with pork please." He ordered without really looking up, He spun a chopstick in his hand and sighed again.

'Maybe I can go to old man Hiashi, He did offer to help me out after all that Hyuuga coup business, But I can't get Hinata involved in that, If the mob disregard the Hyuuga clan too then she might be in danger.' He pinched the bridge of his nose 'I can't have her find me later on either, I doubt seeing my look more like a bloody mass than a human will really sit well with her, I guess I can ask her to stay in, She'd probably listen.'

"Here you go and this one's my gift to you so eat up and enjoy, The glum look doesn't really suit you as much as your black-haired friend." Ayame chirped pleasantly as she hit him on the shoulder, Shaking Naruto form his thoughts and getting a chuckle out of the blonde.

"Thanks for the food." Naruto exclaimed happily, Try as he might depression and Ramen were practically impossible, but after he finished the meal his thoughts returned to his original topic of interest, Keeping Hinata out of the crossfire of the mob and himself and likely Sasuke as well. He scratched his head irritably and let out an exasperated scream.

"Looks like the Demon brat's going insane," An early drinker taunted from his seat "Probably thinking about what's going to happen to him tonight." The other replied menacingly.

Naruto rolled his eyes 'Never too early to be sloshed is it? You damn geezers.' Naruto thought as he walked away.

"**Why not just hide where they can't get to you for the day or so?"** **Kurama suggested again.**

"Haven't you been in my head forever? You know exactly why, They just waited until I had to come out for something like food. They are surprisingly relentless when it comes to this one thing. If they were like this in wars we probably wouldn't even need Shinobi." Naruto responded silently.

**"Yes, I noticed, But why not just never come out, I mean you could avoid them with your level of stealth mastery so easily it would be a joke, I mean move so the villagers never see you." Kurama explained.**

"That would be a temporary solution, When I become a Genin I will have a lot of missions like walking dogs, Grocery runs, Practically children's chores to get a basic understanding of how missions work…"

**"And no amount of stealth mastery can hide a man walking down the street in broad daylight." Kurama finished, A little surprised that Naruto had already thought that far ahead.**

"It might be easier to take the beating and have you hold off on healing me, Let me fall into unconsciousness faster, They will assume I am almost dead and leave, then you heal me and then it's over." Naruto considered.

**"My healing doesn't work that way, You can't turn it off and on at will. You will being healed constantly." Kurama shut down.**

"Damnit." Naruto cursed angrily and jumped to the rooftops, hopping along them towards training ground 7, landing with a light thud he walked over the large wooden post embedded into the ground, Channeled Chakra into his leg and booted it as hard as he could, the thing splintered instantly and he glared at the spot where it had been "Why can't they just leave me alone? Huh? What would be so fucking bad about that?! Maybe just one time they could _not_ stab a child to near death!"He vented angrily.

"Talking to yourself now, Dobe?" Naruto recognized the voice before he had to turn around, the dejected cold tone of, Sasuke Uchiha, was hard to misplace.

"Of course, _you're here_." Naruto complained, Annunciating the you're.

"What would you prefer? Tinkerbell?" Sasuke huffed in response "So, Why are you smashing logs and yelling at a forest."

"You didn't hear me before? I'm trying to figure out a way to avoid being the hunted fox and keep my friends and the people hunting me out of danger." Naruto responded a little less angry than he was before as he fell on his back and stared at the clouds rolling in the sky.

"Speaking of which, You are one of those friend's I am trying to keep _out_ of trouble, So if you wouldn't mind going home, that'd be helpful.

"Why not just come stay at the Uchiha compound?" Sasuke offered, as if it was the most natural thing for the Uchiha to ever say to anyone.

Naruto stared at the black haired youth as if he had grown a second head, The look irritated Sasuke, he could be kind too, Granted it was more uncommon than a solar eclipse, but he could be kind too.

"Stay, With you…At your home…With people attempting to murder me?" Naruto reiterated his problem slowly, making sure the Uchiha got the message.

"Yes, People are even more afraid of the Uchiha Compound than they are of you, They say the spirits of my clan lurk around, If I ever saw one I'd enjoy asking it a few questions. But unfortunately it doesn't seem like they exist." Sasuke replied calmly.

"You get enjoyment out of word things, Teme." Naruto replied playfully

Sasuke hit him lightly atop the head with his fist "Oi, You coming or not?"

"Well, if it's really haunted I guess it would work out." Naruto replied "But if they burn something down it's on you."

"If they burn something down we have cause to arrest them, That would be breaking a law." Sasuke hinted.

"You are the most deceptive human being I have ever met in my life," Naruto taunted "Although I like it, I'm not sure I do."

"That doesn't make sense." Sasuke responded.

"Sure it does, You just don't get it." Naruto replied as if enlightened.

"Screw you." Sasuke retorted

Naruto snickered.

* * *

><p>Hinata walked slowly down the street enjoying the freedom of being outside the Hyuuga compound without a bodyguard for once in her life, Her father finally agreed that she was strong enough to look out for herself, although she still couldn't beat Neji in a spar she had come close a number of times. She hadn't seen her blonde headed boyfriend, well they weren't official, but it was easier to say that than explain that their first date had effectively been interrupted by an attempted Coup d'état by her clan that he had stopped. But her thoughts returned to the fact that she hadn't seen him, even if it was his day off, he usually found and excuse to do some Ninja related activity or just come to see her because he could. She knew he had gained a certain number of followers since he had saved her from being kidnapped, Her cheeks colored slightly as she remembered kissing him that night and she unconsciously brushed her lips with her fingers, said follower's had increased when people learned about the attempted coup and how the blonde had stopped yet another threat to the village and as much as Naruto tried to hide, she could see he enjoyed being in the spotlight for something other than the hateful remarks he usually got, so he let it slide, without letting it get to his head of course.<p>

As if on cue, she spotted the bright expanse of gold hair a small distance from her, he seemed to be bantering with Sasuke normally, but something about his movements seemed off, she could tell, it was kind of like he was on guard and attempting to watch every direction at once. Sasuke seemed non-concerned, but the boy, as far as she knew, never showed concern for anything bar the pink haired girl in class and training. Naruto caught sight of her and stumbled, the trip up almost went unnoticed by the girl, almost, it was like he was searching for exactly how he wanted to say his next sentence without arousing suspicion, which for Naruto, immediately aroused suspicion.

"Hinata-Hime," He led with as the trio stopped, Sasuke huffed and continued walking, he seemed to realize the blonde had some explaining to do without much indication, Hinata suppressed a smirk at how close the two had gotten, even if they appeared to be the worst of enemies in public "Finally got a little freedom, huh?"

Hinata nodded, the smile from the blonde seemed force, as if he was trying to hide worry, she studied his face a little more intently than she would normally allow herself, his eyes were different, they weren't glowing like the usually do, he actually seemed afraid.

"Naruto-kun, What's wrong?" Hinata asked immediately.

He sighed, a sound he was making more often as of late, it kind of irritated him. "Can't get anything passed you, can I?" He chuckled, at any other time that remark may have made the girl blush, but she was more worried about the boy in front of her to pay it any mind.

"Naruto-kun, What's going on?" She pressed, taking another step forward.

"It's not that big a deal," He lied "I am just over thinking something's, I know you just got let out on your own, But do you think you could stay in tonight? It's kind of…important." Naruto attempted to be subtle, but worry was clear in his voice and Hinata concern only increased, she had a feeling this came under the 'wants to tell but can't' set of information she is after.

"If it will calm you down, I will." Hinata replied, stepping back.

Naruto could have been blind and sensed the fact she wanted more information, she was only backing off because she knew he wanted to tell her, but couldn't. He grimaced at his own situation "I am going to go to the old man tomorrow, He is going to let me tell you everything if it's the last thing he ever does for me."

Hinata shook her head "Don't demand things of the Hokage, if you can't people there must be a good reason for it."

Naruto nodded, he wasn't sure the reason was that great "Please, Just promise to stay in tonight, No matter what, don't come out."

The somber tone he had scared her more, she had a hard time suppressing the urge to grab him and drag him into the Hyuuga compound and make her father look after him "I promise." The way she said it may as well have been a threat, Naruto could see the sheer amount of effort she was putting into not asking questions he couldn't answer.

Naruto nodded, opting to end the conversation there he walked passed her "Thank you." Was all he whispered to her as he did, She turned and watched him round the corner and took a deep breath, Whatever may be going on, it was still Naruto, The number one most surprising Ninja in the world, He wouldn't die until he became Hokage. That much she was certain of.

"He's not lying, The thing he can't tell you is a village S-class secret," Sasuke surprised the Hyuuga heiress by dropping down behind her "I only know because I am too be a clan-head the second I become of age, I have to know." Sasuke effectively cut off her follow up question with that.

"I just don't want you to think badly of him, He has been negotiating with the Hokage for days trying to get the right to talk about it, I don't know how the progress is going." Sasuke continued watching after the blonde.

"But you have my word as an Uchiha, He will be kept safe, Even if I have to kill someone to keep him that way." Sasuke finished.

Hinata watched the serious expression on the Black-haired boy's face, there was no hint of hesitation, he was fully prepared to kill for Naruto's well being. Hinata only nodded.

Sasuke inclined his head as he moved to get in front of the blonde, as he had been originally. He made it to the gate of the Uchiha compound just before Naruto rounded the corner, He gave the blond a wave and waited for the boy to jog up to him.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a long night." Sasuke said flatly.

Naruto nodded as he turned to look at the sun, just starting to fall behind the horizon "I hope you were right about people being more scared of this place, than they are of me."

Sasuke nodded.

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><p><strong>AN: So, lot's happened, I got dumped, got another girlfriend, got engaged, found out she was cheating and broke up, got sick as well as a number of other inconveniences with deciding how I wanted to take the story forward from where I was, It took a while but I will be updating this story again relatively soon, Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I Thank each and every one of you for your patience! Peace!**


	11. End of a Long night

**A/N: So, I received a slightly overwhelming amount of support from you guys surrounding my situation, I just wanted to say I didn't explain my relationship trouble's cause I wanted someone to give me a 'poor you' pat on the back, I just felt like I should explain a 9-month absence a little better than 'I got lazy' Because that's not how it really went, That being said, Thanks to everybody that did message me, there are actually a few too many to respond too individually.**

**And as a response to the Guest I can't reply to in a PM, I use the Japanese Honorific's as well as Sasuke and Naruto's nicknames for each other, Simply because that's how the character's spoke in the Anime, Also I am writing this story in English because it's my SECOND language, It would be pointless to write it out as my native tongue and try to boast about it and Hinata-Hime, is a given, Hinata-Princess sounds retarded. Well, now that that's out of the way! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Oh Yeah, I decided to switch to the Japanese Jutsu names, They sound cooler, That's 100% my reasoning, So…I am in the process of editing the other chapters XD.**

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><p>Sasuke had not been kidding when he said the Uchiha compound was a scary place, It was the same feeling of walking in a graveyard, You felt obligated to remain quiet and look glum, as to not disturb the dead. Naruto looked at the old buildings silently following his black-haired friend, he wouldn't even be surprised to see a ghost come floating out onto the street at this point. He couldn't imagine how long it took for Sasuke to get used to this, That was a torture in itself.<p>

Night settled more like an ominous blanket than a time of relaxation, Naruto already knew, The bars would be closing up and the people who left them would be looking for him soon or likely already are.

"Sasuke, why risk them coming here? I think you might be underestimating just how dangerous these people get in a large riled up group." Naruto asked curiously.

"Baka, My father ran the police force, I know exactly how dangerous a riot is just from the stories he told me and wasn't it you that told me to 'Choose something to protect' Maybe I want to protect my friends too." Sasuke responded in his regular unemotional tone.

"I meant protect people who need protecting, You damn jackass," Naruto chopped down on the back of the boys head "But thanks, It's kind of lightening to know I have got a comrade."

"Hey, I'm protecting your weak ass, Don't put us in the same boat." Sasuke retorted.

"What was that, Teme?" Naruto tightened his grip on the back of the boys neck for emphasis.

"Ow, Stop it you ass I was joking." Sasuke answered quickly.

Naruto nodded in satisfaction "As long as we know who the weak one is here."

He ducked the punch thrown by the black-haired boy and laughed "Whoa! Calm down." He raised his hands and smiled

"Tch." Sasuke clicked in response.

Naruto noticed the boys eyes flick up and frown, Naruto turned around, it was a pretty clear light emanating for the relatively dark town "Sasuke, Remember how you said they are more scared of this place than they are of me…Look's like you were wrong."

Sasuke stared at the blonde in surprise, He smiled, although it was off, it was like a resigned smile "Heh, Guess I am going to go say 'hello' The village seems to want to talk to me."

Sasuke grabbed his shoulder "Let's fight them, You and me could wipe the floor with them."

"What _good_ would that do? They are the people we are going to need to protect when we become Shinobi, If they fear or hate us it's pointless." Naruto responded.

"How do you do it? You are marching into a mob that _wants_ to kill you and are still protecting them?!" Sasuke demanded.

"I told you, I will become Hokage, I want to protect_ everyone_ regardless of how they treat me or feel about me." Naruto replied "Besides, I'm too awesome to die, Someone needs to teach you how to live and I can't make Hinata sad, Her dad would probably resurrect me just to kill me again."

Sasuke shook his head as the Blonde jogged away from him and jumped to the roof.

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><p>"Is it done?" The voice was dark shady and ominous, he stared at the bowed man in front of him.<p>

"Yes, Danzo-sama, The people are easily manipulated with a few drinks and the right words."

"Now, Let's see what you do, Nine-tail's, Use some of your power and fall right into Root." Danzo smiled sadistically as he looked down on the village from the Hokage monument, the mob numbers were steadily increasing, he noticed something else that caught his eyes, The lone blonde moving towards the mob 'What could be going through his head.' He frowned at the boy 'It doesn't matter, Make the contained angry enough and it will most definitely show itself. Then it's mine.'

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><p>Naruto smirked as he jumped from the roof, he rotated slightly and landed low with a light thud, He waved at the front of the mob "Yo! I heard you guys were looking for me." He placed his hands in his pockets as he stared at them, Most seemed in a stupor that he had come to them this time.<p>

"What? I'm supposed to run? I guess you people don't know what Ninja Training is, We could stand here all night and none of you are going to be able to hit me." Naruto announced cockily.

"Don't fuck around kid! You want to die? Demon brat!" The chorus of insults that were slung at him came from so many placed he couldn't determine who said them.

"I do hope you realize striking at me gives me the right to defend myself," Naruto lowered slightly and brought his hands in front of himself "I do not plan on running, Anyone who doesn't wish to wake up in the infirmary with a concussion in two days may leave."

The obvious threat stopped a few people, the ones that still had the majority of their wits about them "They say he is a prodigy," He heard one whisper "Yeah, On par with the Uchiha kid." Another said "He's just a kid, Why are we even doing this?"

"**You are such an interesting boy, You don't want to hurt them but you have no problem knocking them out?" Kurama asked**

"Tough love is a form of love too." Naruto countered.

**Kurama laughed "Interesting, Let's see what they do."**

Almost half of the mob had dispersed in the conversation, some not wanting the injury with work the next day, other's not even wanting to attack a child, the remaining mob was still large, but it was by no means unmanageable.

"You Damn Demon, Tricking all those people into thinking you are innocent!" A man at the front shouted, he shifted as he was going to move and then suddenly stopped.

"What the Hell did you do?" He growled, Naruto just stared at him in surprise.

**"Kagamane Kage, Shibari no Jutsu." (**Shadow Imitation, Shadow Bind Technique)

Naruto turned toward the newcomer, The spike pony tail reminded him almost immediately of Shikamaru, But this man was much older, he had two scars on the right side of his face, one below and the other just above his right eye and a small black goatee sprouted from his chin, He wore a mesh shirt and a Shinobi flak jacket, from Naruto could tell he wore a coat of deerskin and had bracers on his wrists. He was crouching atop a rooftop the left of the mob, the black expanse of his shadow extending down and connecting with the mob in front of him.

"We heard some Villagers were getting a little riot-y from the Uchiha boy, Looks like we made it in time to calm things down." The older man shouted down to Naruto.

Naruto hadn't notice the sheer amount of effort it was taking to stand until he no longer had to keep it up, he fell to his knee's almost gratefully as he laughed, a relived almost manic chuckle and then he fell on his back and let out a long sigh.

"Jeez, You damn fool as if I'd let you go face a mob head-on." Sasuke gave him a light kick in the side "What the hell was your plan anyway? I mean, That was convincing front and all that, But I think even a Jonin would have trouble dodging a mob that size."

"I was…just gonna wing it, Most things seem to work out when I do that anyway." Naruto responded with a frown.

"You're an idiot." Sasuke responded flatly.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata jogged over to them she stared down at the blonde for a moment, surprisingly she seemed kind of mad "I think Sasuke, is correct this time…That was very foolish."

Naruto sighed "Well, I had been racking my brain all day and nothing came to mind and…I'm sorry." He said finally.

Sasuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "You know, You are supposed to tell your friends when it's your birthday too, I can't believe I had to find out from Shikamaru's dad _and_ I had to call in my last favors to get them to help you, you damn fool, you owe me big time."

"Yeah, Yeah, I'll set you up a date with Sakura," Naruto waved off idly "Now, Would you mind helping me up? My legs aren't listening."

Sasuke stared down at him, his cheeks were slightly red and his eyes narrowed after a moment and he turned away and strode off, Naruto watched the boy leave and chuckled before it turned into actual laughter, Hinata couldn't suppress the urge to join in after a few minutes and she ended up laying beside him after the laughter died down.

"Y-you, K-Know N-Naruto-kun, You owe m-me too, Y-You made m-me w-worry." After the apparent anger and worry had died down, Hinata returned to her old shy self and Naruto smiled and pushed himself slightly upright with his hands, feeling was starting to return to his legs as he gave the heiress a sidelong glance, she sat up and stared back at him, Maybe it was the moonlight or the fact that he had narrowly avoided being beaten half to death, But the girl on front of him seemed even more beautiful, he leaned forward slightly and Hinata seemed to realize what he wanted, she hesitated a moment before leaning forward and meeting the boy half way, their lips dances together for a brief second before he pulled back and gave her a wise smile, he scratched the back of his head nervously and the girl studied the wall to her left a little intently.

"I know it's not the most romantic of settings, it's not even really the best moment. I wanted to do this after the first date watching the Sunset or something, But…Hinata-Hime, Will you be my girlfriend?" The way he made a pointed effort to look away made her smile, his cheeks were a red that would have made a tomato proud and his scratched at his cheek nervously.

"You have to ask?" Hinata teased for a moment, surprised by the burst of confidence she had "Of course I will, b-b-baka."

Naruto laughed and leant his forehead against hers a lot of weight was lifted off his shoulders with just those few simple words, it may not have been perfect or romantic or amazing, but there aren't many times everything falls into place like that, He smiled contentedly and breathed in heavily, Taking in the comforting scent of lavender that followed the indigo haired girl wherever she went.

"**You get any more lovey-dovey I am going to throw up." Kurama billowed, startling Naruto out of his moment.**

'Screw you fox." Naruto thought in response.

**"Just speaking for the masses." Kurama responded flatly.**

Naruto huffed in response and looked around, it seemed that the mob was being calmed and herded home and the danger had passed.

Naruto stood up and offered his hand to Hinata, she took it calmly as he pulled her up "You should probably get home, I'd rather your dad didn't kill me."

Hinata nodded and began her walk towards her home, she was surprised when the blonde grabbed her hand and fell into step beside her, his cheeks were slightly colored and the situation heated her own cheeks "Don't get me wrong, I am still going to make sure I spend all the time I can with a girl as amazing as you."

Hinata got overly interested in ground as her cheeks heated to neat boiling, Naruto swore he saw steam come out of her ears. That walk ended all too soon for the newly official couple and Naruto nodded to her as he sped off towards his own home.

**"You should have kissed her." Kurama suggested flatly.**

"I doubt she could remain on her feet much longer if I did that." Naruto replied as he turned his head back to the Hyuuga's home.

**Kurama chuckled in response.**

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><p>Danzo pursed his lips as he stared down at the scene 'That damn Uchiha brat and the Damned Nara clan!' he thought evilly as he glared at the Shinobi, he clenched his fist and his cane splintered as he turned away from the scene.<p>

"You know, I'd hate to find out someone was using the Village's Anbu for something so underhanded as starting a riot," The voice was calm collected and threatening. Danzo turned to see the wrinkled face of the Third Hokage staring at him impassively "Danzo, Out of respect for a comrade I have turned a blind eye to many of your activities, You threaten Naruto's life or any of the Children of this village again, I will kill you quickly and painfully. Am I fully understood?"

Danzo was taken aback by the sincerity in his tone and the dangerous glint in his eyes and nodded.

"Good." The Hokage pulled his hat back down slightly and walked away from the black haired old man.

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><p><strong>AN: Hooray for the Nara Clan saves! I thought about this for awhile and this was the version of this chapter I liked the most, I experimented with a scene where Naruto get's severely injured and a few other ones, I kind of piled on the Cheesiness a little and I apologize for that, it wasn't initially planned to be a relationship developing chapter but it sort of evolved into that. Besides Naruto didn't do all that work to be awesome to get attacked by the villagers again. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	12. Becoming Genin, The Survival Test!

**A/N: This chapter contains a few of my larger Cannon changes, Surrounding the Kyuubi Seal, As well as some Council Bashing cause let's face it those elderly douche bags cause some serious problems! Well hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Naruto took a long inhale as he loosed one of his father's three pronged Kunai forward, Focusing his Chakra on the mark in its hilt intent he felt the air rush around him and then a sudden pain wracked his body as he slammed side-first into a tree, he coughed as he hit the ground heavily and heard the Kunai his the tree with a thud, he opened his eyes slowly and stared at the knife from the forest floor.<p>

'That's enough training for today' He thought flatly, it was barely passed ten in the morning and the Academy would start soon, he got to his feet slowly and pressed lightly on a bruise on his arm closing his fist and stretching outwards, testing his movement carefully, His father's Jutsu was so difficult, Even a slight miscalculation in Chakra and you overshoot the mark and overshooting the mark in Naruto's case meant slamming into a tree, He had a bandage above his left eye a self stitched cut on his right arm and now a welting bruise on his left side. He groaned as he began limping towards the village.

"**You are going to kill yourself," Kurama rolled his eyes in the back of his container's mind "Your father was almost twenty when he mastered that technique and it was later still when he developed his own version of the Second's Technique, Not that you will listen to me about it anyway since this is the seven-"**

Naruto cut the nine-tails off by effectively imagining a large cloth gag tied around the foxes mouth, Kurama tore it off and growled, he never should have let the boy know he had complete control in his own mind.

Naruto continued along at his slower than usual place and found his normal seat in the back left of the class-room, The class milled about and checked various things, It was the start of the two month long set of tests that would weed out those without the resolve to become Genin and then actually assign the rank to those who made it and Naruto knew even less of those actually become full Genin, He just hoped he was placed in a team with Hinata and Sasuke, He knew how they both fought and would be able to coordinate with them easily. Anyone else would require a little more improvisation.

The two people he was thinking about sat around the room, They had agreed since the test today was survival and was individual that they would just separate earlier in the day, It also meant they would likely would be put at different sections of the forest and wouldn't run into each other, they thought the solo experience would be beneficial, Dealing with things on their own instead of as three minds as they had been doing for the past few months. Naruto unconsciously flicked along the handles of his Kunai counting them slowly, he checked his Shuriken and tags as well as the small number of three pronged Kunai he had brought, he winced as pain in his side flared and he recalled the painful impact with the tree earlier that morning.

**Kurama sighed in the back of his mind "I doubt anything will happen that would require you to move around much in a survival test. Other than water and stable food you could survive cold thanks to the heat my Chakra gives off."**

"Your right about that, But I was thinking if I might be able to get some more practice with dad's Jutsu in, I think I should do it in a more…open area, with less tree's and try just going straight up rather than forward." Naruto thought back.

**Kurama thought about it for a moment "Well, Getting a feel for it without injuring yourself is kind of important, It's not like you will have issues with Chakra, I think it's a sound plan….After you heal." He finished strongly.**

"Yeah, Yeah. I know." Naruto replied

The door opened and Iruka strolled in normally, his face was a bit more serious than usual, it was only natural the teachers had to be extra attentive during this specific test, they tried to keep everyone as safe as possible but there had been a few instances when a aspiring Genin had fallen victim to snakes and other wild animals with strokes of bad luck.

"All right, Quiet down, Now as many of you know today will be the first of a set of tests to decide which of you will remain in the Academy and which of you will graduate to Genin, the lowest rank of Ninja. Today is the beginning of your survival test, you will be placed in the large expanse of forest to the west of the Village, It's fenced off and the wildlife has been kept moderately under control, While it may be the safest amount the test sites it is by no means a paradise, Be on guard and stay alert. We meet at the Forest in one hour, Anyone who is lacking sufficient Ninja gear is advised to retrieve it now and meet there." Iruka finished his lecture and tapped his clipboard down on his desk. Student who figured they didn't have enough Ninja tools bolted from the room, The remaining nine looked around carefully before standing and leaving the room at their own pace. Naruto lagged behind, trying to now show anyone he was a little worse for wear, he definitely wouldn't be able to explain his injuries and that would piss some people off.

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><p>Naruto was one of the last to arrive at the forest, he had intentionally walked slowly as not to aggravate his injuries and was having a specifically hard time hiding them now that he had to walk up to his whole class, apparently he was a good actor.<p>

"Okay, Naruto will remain at this gate, The rest of you will fan out over the Forest, stop at each gate you find, If a classmate reaches a gate ahead of you continue until you find a free one. When they open all of you are to go inside, The Gates will open again in three days unless an emergency occurs, If you are not nearby a gate at the end of three days it is advised you set up a fire and wait for one of the Chunin Instructors to find you." Iruka explained flatly.

"Why doesn't Naruto have to run for a gate too?!" Ino complained.

"Naruto has the highest average score in his previous tests, Therefore he receives the first gate by default." Iruka responded flatly.

The rest of the questions ended after that, Iruka looked around the class and nodded "Alright begin." The children scattered leaving only him and Naruto in the small clearing by the gate.

"Naruto, I saw you walking a little funny, I am not going to tell you to quit because…Well you won't, But be careful." Iruka stared at the blonde seriously.

Naruto nodded his head "I don't plan on doing anything reckless, It's only a survival test. Nothing I can't handle."

Iruka nodded and the gate behind him slid open with the sound of grating metal "It appears your classmates are quick, I will see you in three days."

"You know it!" Naruto shouted back as he entered the forest, It wasn't all that different from the forest surrounding his father's hide out, The tree's were a little larger and thicker the grass was also longer and wild looking, white patches of small flowers dotted clearing around him and he occasionally made out the outlines of rabbits and lizards in the thickets he spotted, he channeled a small amount of Chakra into his ears and listened, Finding the sound of running water that he was looking for he started moving towards it. He'd set snares later to catch smaller wildlife.

He walked for around on hour before he made the clearing, He looked around calmly, the river led off west and the a small waterfall was what drew him here, There was a small patch of grass with a large tree shading it he would use as shelter if the weather got bad, He walked towards the tree and leaned down against it, pulling a rag from his poach he dabbed it in the stream to cool it before lifting his shirt and starting the awkward job of wrapping it around the large purple and black bruise on his side, It throbbed every time he moved wrong and he bit his lip to avoid shouting in pain as he tied the knot around it tightly, the cooling sensation of the water helped a little, but he likely wouldn't be able to move properly till a little after the test. He sighed and leaned back against the tree.

"**Go ahead and sleep, I will keep my attention outside." Kurama said calmly, That also meant he could push some of his Chakra to begin healing that nasty bruise on his side. At least get him moving at a semi-normal level. Kurama had a bad feeling about this test, The white haired Sensei was missing at both lectures, As far as he knew that wasn't normal, he expanded his senses outwards, He detected a few small spikes, he assumed they were other classmates in his range. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet.**

Naruto nodded gratefully and let his eyes fall shut, The waterfall and the birds making a pleasant natural lullaby that lulled him to sleep.

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><p>Sasuke blew a small ball of fire onto a pile of logs he had collected, digging a small trench out around the fire he embedded a stick into the ground hovering over the fire, A small skinned lizard was impaled around the end of the stick, He looked upstream, As much as Naruto did a very good job hiding it, Sasuke had noticed the limp and the slightly wincing expression the boy held. He was clearly injured Sasuke couldn't imagine what or who had injured him, But he was slightly worried for the blonde haired idiot, He was better than him in combat after all, even in that State with his weights off would be a force to be reckoned with. He sighed as he leaned and waited for his food to cook, his mind drifting from the Blonde to another girl that he had yet to talk to properly, he sighed and ran his head through his hair looking up through the cracks in the tree canopy, he could make out the small twinkling dots of stars. The moon wasn't in the sky that night and Sasuke only had a small pool of light that he could see effectively in, he wondered if the pink-haired Kunouchi was fairing alright. 'After this test, I do it…I definitely will.' he thought with a determined nod.<p>

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><p>Hinata scanned the ground below her and cursed silently at her bad luck, just before night set in she had planned to make a fire and eat the small rabbit she had caught and skinned earlier that day and that plan would have been great if a tiger hadn't gotten wind of her meal. So that left her in her current position, tying herself to a tree with a small length of rope she had packed and chewing lightly on one of the two ration packs they were allowed to bring. This would affect her final score, Not that she cared much for getting the highest but relying on the ration packs would take a few off of hers. She frowned as she settled in, The growling of the predator currently pacing around under her redrew her attention, She didn't really want to kill the Animal, but if it was there the next morning she would have too, she stared at the sky and uttered a silent prayer for Naruto to be safe as well, she had noticed his injuries just as easily as Sasuke had, but she had faith in his ability, he would be alright which meant she had to pass as well. She nodded with the new determination and shifted slightly to gain a little more comfort.<p>

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><p>Naruto sat up abruptly, The sun was barely peaking the tops of the tree's on the opposite side of the river, he squinted and raised his hand against the light, yawning his stretched up without thinking, He was surprised when only minimal discomfort spread from his side.<p>

**"Don't underestimate me!" Kurama boasted**

Naruto chuckled "Yeah, Thanks, Ku.'

Naruto got to his feet, He walked over to the river and stared down at the surface, the water was crystal clear and he could easily make out a few larger fish swimming around the bottom "So, How about Fish for lunch?" Naruto asked, walking back over to the tree, Tossing a Kunai and slicing through a longer branch cleanly, he caught the branch and undid the rag that had fallen slightly since he had done it up the day before, he began clipping off the excess branches with another Kunai, finally getting it to a long straight length of wood, He tied one of his father's three pronged Kunai to the end as it was slightly longer than a standard Kunai design, walking back over the surface of the water he stopped waited and speared down, pulling back as the fish squirmed for a moment before dying, he pulled it off the spear and tossed it back under the tree, he repeated the process three times and walked back to the shore, he ran around quickly and gather enough wood to make a standard fire, as well as a few longer sticks he could place the fish on, he gutted them and buried the parts he wasn't going to eat with the scales before impaling them on sticks and setting them against the tree.

"**Why bury that other bits?" Kurama asked, he was confused, it wasn't like humans to hold ceremony over animals, but he used to just eat his prey whole.**

"The wind is changing a bit today, I can't be sure there isn't something looking around for an easy lunch, I would rather not have to fight the wildlife." Naruto responded as he began rubbing a pair of sticks together, gradually increasing the speed until a small fire lit, he blew on the sparks and the campfire came to life at a steady pace, he added a thicker log and leant the fish over the fire, turning it slowly so it cooked properly, while doing so he slowly expanded his mind and entered a sort of half attentive meditation, keeping one half of his mind focused on his lunch, the other towards the surrounding forest.

Contrary to his usual routine he ate slowly, making sure his stomach registered he was eating as to make sure he didn't eat too much, it was survival there wasn't much point if he didn't at least try to limit himself.

He leaned back against the tree and watched the wind blow, it wasn't long before he quickly began getting bored, He kind of regretted burying the fish now, Fighting a tiger had an appeal now that watching leaves move with breeze had gotten boring.

**"Well, It's about to get interesting again, Focus east." Kurama instructed.**

Naruto did so, he picked up three Chakra signatures, they had to be at least high Chunin, Maybe low Jonin level based on the size of the signatures, There was another feeling Naruto couldn't place, it made him uncomfortable and put his hair on end.

"**That's killer intent," Kurama voiced, answering Naruto's question before he asked it "You've never felt it because you have never fought anyone with this kind of anger in them, This person doesn't just want to cause harm to others, He revels in it."**

Naruto's fist tightened and he stared at the direction they were coming from "It doesn't matter, We can take them."

"**Maybe at full power yes, but your movement is still limited and you're not exactly well nourished at the moment, I'd suggest taking as many out in a trap as possible." Kurama countered.**

Naruto nodded, dashing to the area's they were most likely to arrive, He doubted they would all drop in the same place, but if they did he'd have his work cut out for him, placing a few paralysis tags around the edge of the clearing, he led a wire to the center of it and sat down, taking of a mediatory position as he waited, the wires in each hand.

It was around ten minutes before the group finally broke through the tree's. Naruto stared at them, hiding his surprise to see Mizuki-sensei in the front of the three, he also cursed that they hadn't spread out and surrounded him from the start, that meant it was a three on one, they had experience on him too. He regarded each of the three in front of him, Mizuki stood in the centre, He had a large bladed shuriken strapped to his back, he wore the standard flak jacket, with black pants and black ninja sandals, He also had a black bandana tied over most of his hair. The woman to his right had lightish red hair, a little too dark to be pink but not quite all the way red, she had brown eyes and wore a black mesh shirt over a rather revealing tank top, She also had a black short sleeved coat on and black pants and ninja sandals and Finally the man on his left, He was massive, broad as a barn and towering over Mizuki, he wore a mesh singlet and black pants with ninja sandals, he hands were covered in black gloves with a large spiked metal plate over the knuckles, Naruto couldn't imagine the amount of pain that would behind taking one of those strikes, The man was bald and had a scare running through his left eye and down his cheek. They all watched Naruto carefully.

Mizuki smiled "Oh, Naruto, We apologize we are part of the unit that tries to prevent the death of some of the…weaker student's, When they get cornered by wild animals and such, We try to prevent loss of life as much as possible you see."

"Well, As you can see, I am not in need of any kind of assistance." Naruto smiled back, resisting the urge to openly attack the man in front of him, Even if the vilely fake smile pissed him off.

"Funny thing about animals, They often mutilate corpses so much they are beyond…Recognition," The slight pause was the time Mizuki elected to toss the large Shuriken on his back, Naruto jumped to his feet and pivoted, spinning past the Shuriken and extending his arm, catching it in the loop around his forearm, he spun it as if it was a hula hoop, spinning around and loosing it back towards the man, who jumped as it embedded itself halfway into the tree behind him. The woman clicked her tongue as she flew through hand signs, inflated her lungs as she leaned back before tilting her head forward and spraying water from her mouth.

**"Suiton: Mizu Kamkiri." (Water Release: Rising Water Slicer.)**

Naruto leaped into the air, crossing his fingers as the jet of water sped through the ground at him, The water came under him and exploded outwards. he winced as a shard of rock cut across his cheek and refocused his Chakra.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." (Shadow clone Technique.)**

A puff of smoke obscured the vision of the three in front of him,Naruto turned in the air and landed behind the set of clones he had created, He knew one used water based Jutsu now, But he doubted he would get anything out of Mizuki with the few clones he had created, the clones scattered before charging in three separate groups of three, each at their own Chunin, Mizuki dispatched the three that came at him with basic Taijutsu, Which Naruto ignored, It appeared the water user opted to conserve her Chakra, she also used Taijutsu although she was considerably slower than Mizuki and the clones managed to get a few hits in.

Naruto watched the larger man carefully, he went through a set of hand signs and slammed his palms into the ground.

"**Doton: Doro Hoshi." (Earth Release: Mud spore.)**

The ground under the clones feet shifted and Naruto noticed a moment too late as Mizuki placed his palms against the edge of the mud.

**"Katon: Suyaki no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Fired Pottery Technique.)**

Naruto cursed silently under his breath as the ground around his left leg hardened almost immediately, The clones were dispersed by a few Kunai as the smoke cleared, Naruto beat at the hardened ground with his fist, water blew past his left side and the combination was repeated, both his legs were now effectively locked by Chakra enhanced rock.

"Well, I didn't expect you to know how to make Shadow clones, But the result is to be expected from a child." Mizuki taunted walking towards Naruto.

Naruto glared at the man as he moved forward 'I doubt they are going to let me do hand signs.' He thought despairingly as he looked around 'And I doubt anyone is going to save me, Individual test and all.'

"**The other one hasn't stopped putting Chakra into the mud either, I can't break it like this." Kurama growled.**

Mizuki stopped "Oh, I just remembered," He began with a sinister smile "You never were told why, were you, Why all the villagers hate you? Why they chase you thought the village every year? Why I am about to kill you?"

"You mean the Kyuubi right?" Naruto shot down, The look of surprise on his sensei's face brought a smile to his "You think I didn't know about the massive consciousness currently occupying my own body? Wait, Was that your plan? If you didn't catch me here were you hoping you could demoralize me with that?" Naruto laughed and then spat towards the man "If you are going to kill me I'd prefer you shut up and try, I don't have the patience to deal with fools at the moment."

"You believe you are in a position to talk back?!" Mizuki growled darkly, stalking towards the blonde carefully, pulling a Kunai from his pouch and dragging it across Naruto's cheek, Naruto stared at the white haired man, Intentionally showing no sign of pain.

**Kurama let out a deafening roar and slammed his body into the door of his cage, attempting to loosen the seal physically from the inside of Naruto's body.**

"You think a scratch would get a rise out of me? What, you getting cold feet? Your killing the guy who stopped a coup and beat down three Jonin from the cloud village here, Even like I am now don't tell me you are afraid?!" Naruto taunted

Mizuki latched on to Naruto's face "How about I cut out the tongue you seem to like flapping so much?"

"I warned you not to fuck around, didn't I?!" Naruto taunted, the whistling of metal caught Mizuki's ear and he pulled his head back as a Kunai clattered against the one in his hand and forced him to step away from Naruto.

"Bout time you got here," Naruto smirked, looking at the familiar fan design on the black of a dark blue shirt "What you stop to pick some flowers?"

"I figured you could handle it a little longer," Sasuke responded with a confident smirk "After I save your ass, You and I are going to have a nice long chat."

Naruto watched the Uchiha from the corner of his eye.

"UCHIHA!" Mizuki roared as he charged the black haired boy, his movements were wild but they were also precise, it was like the Taijutsu Academy instructor was just in a habit of keeping in form.

Sasuke pulled his arm up to block the powerful kick Mizuki sent towards his head, he wasn't expecting quite that much force and was pushed back towards the forest of the at the edge of the clearing.

Mizuki stood straight up, With him in between Naruto and Sasuke he turned to his female compatriot "Asahi, Kill the Demon Brat, I have another _animal_ to deal with."

'Shit' Sasuke's mind yelled as he attempted to dart forward, only to be sent back by another round house by Mizuki, he groaned as he sat up "Naruto!" He shouted before he was knocked unconscious by a third kick from his old sensei.

Naruto attempted to life his arms before they were forcefully wrenched back above his head, his head snapped to the larger earth user they had brought with them, The rock clone smirked as the Kunai rifled towards Naruto's chest he squeezed his eyes shut and waited, it seemed like an hour but in reality it was only a few seconds, a few seconds too long. His eyes snapped open to see someone familiar, indigo hair, a light purple jacket. He had seen it so many times there was no way to mistake it, The kunai protruding from her left shoulder was foreign, he clenched his teeth.

"Look, The _animals_ seem to be lively today." Mizuki's tone was darker than before, if that was possible as he made his way towards Hinata.

"Hinata, run!" Naruto shouted straining his arms against the clone that held him.

"No." Hinata responded strongly.

Naruto strained against the confines around his legs and arms again "Hinata," It came out as a strained groaned "Please, Just run."

Mizuki disappeared and Hinata lurched upwards as he booted her in the chest, Hinata flew backwards and slid towards the river. Naruto pulled against the restraints again, the skin on his wrists was starting to peel off and blood flowed from the wounds freely "Bastard. Touch her again and I'll tear you to pieces!" Naruto shouted angrily.

Mizuki cocked an eyebrow at the blonde "Oh, Feelings is it?" He made disapproving sound by clicking his tongue he moved his finger side to side and shook his head "Now, Now Naruto, We have rules in the Shinobi World," He stared down at the Hyuuga Heiress "No attachments!" He shouted delivering another kick to the girls abdomen.

"Hinata! Move!" Naruto shouted, Attempting to rouse the girl on the ground.

"You can't let emotions rule your judgment," Mizuki continued in a lecturing tone, pulling the girl up by her hair and spitting in Naruto's direction "They cause all kinds of…Problems." He move slightly making a move to toss the girl into the river.

"**Mizuki!"** The foreign voice stopped him, His head swiveled back to Naruto, The boys eyes trained on him, only the ocean blue was not what was staring at him, A deep crimson read bored into his head and large red droplets of chakra expanded off of Naruto's form, The rock clone winced as the Chakra burned at his hands, the rock began melting around Naruto's legs and the cut on his cheek began stitching itself together **"I am going to kill you!" **Naruto roared as the rock around his legs broke and he could move, he lowered slightly and Mizuki felt air rush passed him as Naruto placed a hand on the man's shoulder, Mizuki hadn't even been able to track the movement, The other two Shinobi looked just as surprised, Mizuki let go of Hinata in his surprise and Naruto's hand gripped him by the collar of his flak jacket, he felt the sensation of flying through the air before he realized he had been thrown. he rotated and his eyes could only grow as Naruto appeared above him fist reared back, He delivered the punch with bone-shattering force and slammed the man into the ground. Dirt dust and stone flew in every direction as the earth moved to allow room for the man's body.

**"Kit, Calm down. You can't draw on my powers like this you'll hurt yourself if you keep going." Kurama broke through the enraged haze that was Naruto's mind and the boy faltered and blinked as his eyes reset to their usual blue, Kurama sighed in relief.**

"I doubt Konoha's Ninja population didn't feel that spike, Sorry for dragging it out like that." Naruto responded as he fell against the tree that remained in his small campsite while he waited for his head to stop swimming. When he could move without fear of falling over, he darted towards the edge of the river, picking up Hinata carefully, he brought her into the shadier spot and undid her jacket, he folded the thing up and paced his under her head, from the outside all he could tell that she likely had a few broken ribs, the Kunai in her shoulder was a worry but it didn't seem like it had gone in too deep and she wasn't bleeding badly. He got to his feet and made his way over to Sasuke, lifting the boy in the same manner and getting him under the shadow of the tree, he folded his own coat and placed it under the Uchiha's head, he knew Sasuke was only unconscious with nothing too serious, as he tried to get to his feet again his legs seized up painfully and he fell back to the ground.

"**You couldn't handle what you pulled out and besides that dragging my Chakra through the seal like that is dangerous for you, I'm not consenting it, That Chakra is separated from my will and it takes on its own, All it knows is its been stolen and I can't imagine it would be too happy about it." Kurama warned.**

**"**Okay, So don't take Chakra." Naruto nodded as he dragged himself to a seated position, He didn't know where Mizuki's companions had ran off too, he knew they were not nearby and it was unlikely they would threaten him again with Mizuki in a probably going to die state.

Naruto attempted to stave off unconsciousness for as long as possible, but by the time Anbu found him and the other too he had long since lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>"Take those three to the Hospital first." A white haired captain ordered he stared down at the white haired sensei and leaned forward to hear better.<p>

"The Demon Kid, Attacked me out of nowhere, We were trying to protect them from some animals." The man lied.

The white haired Anbu turned slightly, Allowing the Sharingan in his right eye to glare down at the man entirely, The words died in the man's throat "Why don't you run that lie by me again?" The Anbu growled, killer intent flowing straight into the injured man in front of him "Take this scumbag to prison." He ordered flatly. His men nodded and bowed as he walked away from the scene.

* * *

><p>"You can't be serious!?" Kohara Utatane, slammed her palm on the desk in front of her "Making that thing a Genin? After this Show that the Seal is weak enough to allow that much Chakra out?! Madness! I won't allow it."<p>

Saratobi turned his eyes on the woman, her argument cutting off from the glare "Won't allow it?! I am the Hokage of this Village, I decide _who_ becomes it's Shinobi! _I _decide what to do with our military strength, If you had listened to me at all in the last thirty years many tragedies surrounding this village could have been avoided. He will be placed on a Genin team under Kakashi Hatake with Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga and it would do you well to remember who that boys parents are and hope to everything under gods sacred earth nobody resurrects them because nobody will stop them from coming after you! This matter will _not_ be discussed again. This Village's Council is finished you two are to retire and spend the remainder of your pitiful existences pondering your failure's and begging the gods for forgiveness." The aged Hokage drilled every insult into the pair of elderly in front of him with a venom "Am I completely understood?"

The pair of Council member's could only nod their heads dumbly at the rare outburst from the third. Saratobi stood up pulled his hat onto his head and left the room. Making his way towards the Hospital.

* * *

><p>The automated doors of the Hospital slid open and Saratobi walked up to the front desk "What room is Naruto Uzumaki saying in?!"<p>

The receptionist looked up at the Hokage and started "Oh, Hokage-sama, Just give me a moment, Room 12, it's the corridor on the left at the end of the hall. Would you like me to show you the way?"

Saratobi chuckled "No, That's quite alright I am sure I can find my way without getting lost."

The receptionist nodded as he walked passed her. He walked to the indicated room and stuck his head inside and looked around, he was not unsurprised to see Naruto's bed empty and the blond nowhere to be found. Walking back to the receptionist he smirked "I apologize, I think I said Naruto Uzumaki when I walked in, I am looking for one Hinata Hyuuga, Would you please tell me what room she is staying in?"

"Of course, Room 10, Hokage-sama." The woman said smilingly.

Saratobi nodded and walked back down the corridor, sliding the door open, to reveal the blond he was looking for, he had the most concerned face Saratobi had ever seen on the boy, he held on to Hinata's hand tightly and was studying her face intently, Saratobi coughed into the back of his hand, Naruto started and scratched the back of his head as he looked out of the window attempting to hide the red that dusted his cheeks. Naruto stood up and walked to the door Saratobi merely smiled at him.

"I guess you want to ask me a few things huh? Old man." Naruto asked, it wasn't really a question.

The aging Hokage nodded and gestured for Naruto to leave the way, the boy shot one last glance at the purple haired girl before walking back to his own room, he walked a little fast as if impatient and sat on the end of his bed, he ran his hand through his hair and sighed "They say she'll be fine, But she hasn't woken up yet and I'm…worried about her."

The Hokage nodded in understanding "Well, How about I give you some good news then?" The old man smirked as he tossed a blue cloth towards Naruto, who caught it deftly, the metal of the forehead protector chinked as Naruto held it up to the light that was coming through the window and stared at his reflection in the metal, the corner's of his mouth pulled into an involuntary smile as he stared at it.

"For obvious reasons I can't tell you who your Sensei or teammates are yet, You'll have to wait and find out like everyone else." The Hokage chuckled as Naruto made a disapproving face but accepted the conditions.

"So, What did you need to ask me, old man?" Naruto asked

The Hokage nodded "At the Clearing, We think the Kyuubi may have attempted to take control of your mind, that shows the seal is weakening and that worried me. Naruto what do you remember?"

Naruto took a deep breath "Okay, For starters I remember everything, He didn't 'take control' as you said it, It was more like in desperation I yanked at his power and pulled what I couldn't handle, From what he tells me, the seal breaks his will off of the Chakra I can use, But the Chakra itself has the memory of being stolen and so it react violently, which I why I passed out afterward."

The Hokage stared in open surprise "Him? You did that? All of it?!"

"Him, is referring to the Kyuubi, Well his name is Kurama," Naruto explained "We have been on talking terms for a while, He has even been helping me out with training and things, He's actually a big softie, if you can get passed the 'I'm a big scary demon that wants to eat you front.'" Naruto swayed and lifted his hands imitating what the Hokage would describe as a bear and the Old man stifled a chuckle.

"But, Mizuki was closer to paste when we found him than bone, You can't tell me you did that consciously, It's just not something you do." The Hokage responded questioningly.

Naruto scratched his cheek and appeared reluctant "When he…Hit Hinata, he was going to throw her in the River, She was unconscious he planned to drown her, I was so angry, blind with rage would be appropriate, That coupled with the influence of a pissed off Chakra source, I didn't hold back at all, I didn't even drop the weight's on my arms and I was that strong."

The Hokage nodded "I see, The lines between rationality tend to blur when our precious people are involved, I would say be careful in the future, try not to draw on The Kyuu- Kurama's power like that again."

Naruto nodded "I promise."

The Hokage smiled "Good."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sooooo? What do you think? I mentioned at the start the changes I was making to the seal, Tell me your thoughts on them I'd love to get some feedback on it, No flames though, If you don't like it that's fine But I don't need to be insulted cause I am not matching your tastes, Fairly straight forward right? I hope you all enjoyed and I will see you guys next time!**


	13. Becoming Genin, The Nine Tails!

**A/N: So I went back through and I am pretty sure I got all the techniques switched into their Japanese forms, If anyone find's one that I missed hit me with it in a review so I can fix it up as well, I also changed the Author's notes on the First chapter, Anyone who is still unsure about my main cannon changes can refer to that, **

**(Edit: apparently the end of this chapter was unintentionally inspired off of another fan fiction, 'A New Chance.' by Hektols. So yeah.)**

* * *

><p>The sound of shoes scraping on dirt filled the air as Naruto shifted his weight and focused his Chakra, there was a flash of golden light and his feet embedded into the bark of a nearby tree, he caught his father's oddly shaped Kunai and within a blink of the eye he was across the small clearing in the forest gripping the handle of the final Kunai and panting heavily. His knee's felt like they were about to give out as he sagged.<p>

"I DID IT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs "KU! I GOT IT, I FINALLY GOT IT DOWN!"

"**I know," Kurama chuckled "We are in the same head remember?!"**

"Oh, right…Yeah," Naruto scratched the back of his head as he fell backwards against the trunk of one of the large tree's around him "I hope Hinata wakes up today, I want to tell her and Sasuke everything, now that I'm a Genin."

**"If I didn't know you better I'd say you are nervous." Kurama taunted**

"Of course I am nervous," Naruto snapped back, before taking a calming breath "What if they don't like me anymore? What if they think I am the reincarnation of you just like everybody else….I don't think I'd be able to handle that."

Naruto winced as a sharp pain shot through his cheek **"Baka! Do you believe your own friends to be of such low caliber?!"** **Kurama demanded angrily.**

Naruto was stunned in silence for a moment "Oi! Kurama did you just make me slap myself?!" Naruto glowered at the air in front of him as the fox laughed.

"Of course my friends wouldn't, I'm just worried." Naruto answered after a sigh.

Naruto climbed to his feet slowly and stretched his arms above his head, a relaxing pop rang out from his shoulders as he moved towards the village.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi puffed on his pipe idly as he watched over the leaf village, the people in the street's milling about their lives brought him some peace as he took a long breath. He frowned and turned towards the door of his office as a small scuffle was heard outside, Iruka burst through the door of the aging Hokage's office and Sarutobi raised an eyebrow to stare at the Academy teacher. He raised a hand to stop his secretary and the pair of guards from pulling the man outside, it was not as if he had something to attend to anyway.<p>

"Hokage-sama, Naruto is not at the hospital!" Iruka announced in a panicked tone.

The Hokage watched him for a few moments before chuckling "Iruka, Calm down, he is merely out training confining that boy to a bed is harder than taming a bear."

"Oh, uh, I see," Iruka stumbled "I, apologize for making a fuss Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi chuckled again "Sit, Tell me why you have been so anxious to see me for these last few days."

Iruka hesitated a moment before taking a seat in the older man's office, He clenched his fists and stared at the floor in-between his feet, Sarutobi took another long inhale of his pipe and took his own seat, watching the man carefully.

"Naruto was injured when he arrived for the survival test, He claimed it was from nothing more than a training accident," Iruka began slowly "I let him through, I believed he could handle it even in that state and if I took him out of the test at the point he would probably hate me forever." He smiled bitter sweetly as he spoke "It's my fault it ended up like this and I would like to take responsibility."

The Hokage stroked his goatee silently for a moment "Iruka, Do you believe Naruto blames you for his or his friends injuries? I don't believe so, He is out training to become stronger as we speak and _even_ in that state he defeated Mizuki a high level Chunin of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"But-" Iruka cut off as the Hokage raised his hand.

"Whilst I agree that letting him into the test when walking was as difficult as it was for him may have been a lapse in judgment, He would never let either of us here the end of it if he was held back. I cannot punish you for making the same decision as I would in the situation." The Hokage chuckled "But, What I do have in mind for you may be worse than any punishment you could receive."

Iruka swallowed heavily.

"Kakashi!" Sarutobi announced sharply, The white haired Jonin appeared beside him, he inclined his head slightly towards Iruka "I want you to train Iruka here a little, I think he will benefit from it greatly."

Kakashi nodded "Sir!" He turned around and walked to the office door "Come on now, Teacher-san, We have work to do." He said in his usual bored tone, lulling his head to the side and watching Iruka with his uncovered eye, the thing twisted into what could be considered a smile "I think I am going to enjoy this."

Iruka swallowed hard again, one thing he knew about a Jonin like Kakashi his enjoyment was nothing something you wanted to be a part of.

* * *

><p>Naruto sneezed as he walked into the hospital, he rubbed his nose as he looked around the room, The receptionist caught sight of him and shot up "Uzumaki-san! You are supposed to be healing, Where did you go? How did you even get out of your room?!" The woman half demanded, half scolded him as she grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him towards his room.<p>

"Um, I am a Shinobi remember?" Naruto responded flatly as he walked slightly ahead of her "And beside I had something to take care of."

"Unacceptable, You can't just run off and start training before you have healed properly, what could be more important than your health?" she continued in her slightly knaggy tone.

**"You have to give them credit for perseverance, I mean they still tell you the same thing every time." Kurama noted.**

"I got it, I won't leave again I promise," Naruto stopped and turned around "But does it matter which hospital room I stay in?" He asked, glancing at the door to his left.

The nurse followed his gaze "With your word you will remain in the hospital, I will allow it."

Naruto gave the woman a warmhearted smile "Thank you."

She nodded and spun on her heel, striding away from him, Naruto shook his head slightly as he walked up to the door, the small number plate beside it read '12' he pulled the door open slowly, almost afraid of what was inside.

He stopped in the doorway, Hinata sat slightly upright, looking out the window at the setting sun of Konoha, The golden light bathing her skin slightly, her eyes were closed and she sighed contentedly taking in a low breath, the orange hues of the sun giving her skin a glow Naruto hadn't seen before, but something he would never be able to forget.

"Wow," He finally uttered dumbly, she caught the sound and she turned to face him, a small warm smile enveloping her face as she realized who was in her room, he walked forward slightly stiff as he got to the side of her bed "I, uh, got you these." He stumbled slightly as he handed her a small bouquet of flowers, the set of violets inside bloomed beautifully.

"They reminded me of you when I saw them," Naruto scratched his cheek nervously as he studied the wall "I hope you like them."

Hinata let out a soft chuckled as she placed them in the small vase on her bedside table, she reached out and took his sleeve in her hand slightly above his wrist, she gave it a light tug and Naruto obliged to the pull, leaning down towards her, she met him halfway, their lips pressed together for a few moments, any worry Naruto still had in his system vanished as her scent filled his nose, the same lavender scent that always calmed him down, the same warmth in her cheeks as their lips locked together for in reality was a few seconds but felt much longer, he pulled back slowly, azure blue met lavender and the two stayed like that for another minute, Naruto leaning his forehead against hers as the two just took comfort in each other's presence.

A sharp cough caused Naruto to suddenly stiffen, he straightened and took a wide step away from Hinata, Who stiffened in her spot on the bed as she watched the door.

"I'm glad to see you two so…close." Hiashi said carefully, the smile on his face chilled Naruto to the bone and he edged his way out of the room.

"Um, I'm going to go check on, uh…Sasuke…too." Naruto stuttered out as he left the room.

Hinata nodded and gave him another warm smile.

Naruto closed the door behind him and let out a long sigh of relief, his hands grabbed the hair on either side of his head and he let out a slightly strangled scream.

"Dobe, What's going on? You finally lost your mind?" The dull voice asked casually, Naruto didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Sasuke," Naruto placed his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, he had a slightly dead pan look in his eye "It's over for me I think, Hiashi's going to have me assassinated."

Sasuke stared at the blonde with a questioning frown, before chopping down on the boys head "Idiot, As if he'd do anything harm his daughter."

"I didn't say anything-" Naruto cut off as he gathered the meaning behind those words, he rubbed his head a winced "You didn't have to hit me, Teme!"

Sasuke smirked at the blonde "So, You want to explain what Mizuki meant in the forest…about you being the nine tailed fox?"

Naruto's face turned serious, his eyes set harder and he seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle "I want to tell you, Hinata too. So can you give me some time?"

Sasuke watched the blonde impassively "That's fine, Your life is your own business, But there is something I want, no, need you to understand."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow in question.

"It doesn't matter." Sasuke finished flatly

"Huh?" Naruto hummed in surprise not quite following.

Sasuke rolled his eyes "Both Hinata and I, Made the decision of our free will to befriend you, We accept who you are right now, It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, You are Naruto Uzumaki, The number one loudmouthed imbecile, who also is a powerful Shinobi and the best friend anyone could ever have."

Naruto's mouth fell open in surprise, he blinked a few times 'Is this really Sasuke?'

**"This isn't a Genjutsu if that's what you mean." Kurama growled "It seems the boy has a heart somewhere inside his chest. How interesting."**

Sasuke's cheeks dusted lightly "So stop being stupid and just charge in like you always do, Dobe. I'll make sure to save you like _always_."

"What was that Teme?! Last I checked you got knocked the fuck out by Mizuki!" Naruto shouted in retort.

"Trying to save you, Who was all locked up by the enemies Jutsu!" Sasuke fumed.

A cough resounded in the corridor, the pair of teens hadn't noticed the door to Hinata's hospital room open while they were busy arguing. The two froze as a wave of killing intent washed over them, they darted to attention beside each other and bowed respectfully out of fear.

"We apologize, Hiashi-sama!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Uchiha, You may leave I want a word with Naruto." Hiashi said darkly

Sasuke straightened and nodded his head, moving passed the older man into Hinata's room, he turned to Naruto and mouthed a 'good luck' before the door closed.

"Uz-u-ma-ki." Hiashi annunciated slowly.

Naruto winced and lifted his head, meeting the man's eyes levelly, this wasn't a time to be meek. Naruto froze suddenly at the man's uncharacteristic smile, Naruto tilted his head and let a nervous smirk break out on his face.

"What do you think I am?" Hiashi chuckled "I am not some demon who has forgotten what it was like to be a teenager."

"But-you-I." Naruto stuttered as his brain struggled to follow the situation.

"However," Hiashi's smile vanished "I would appreciate it, if you kept your…interactions…more private…"

Naruto nodded his head vigorously "Yes, Hiashi-sama, of course."

'It's almost too easy." Hiashi hid his smirk behind his hand this time "Oh, And congratulations on making Genin with your new team."

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama." Naruto bowed his head quickly

"I will take my leave now," Hiashi inclined his head "Be sure to listen to the nurses here Naruto, They are quite knowledgeable."

Naruto nodded his head again as the Hyuuga clan head moved away from the room, Naruto slid the door open and walked inside.

The soft dark chuckling of the Kyuubi resonated in Naruto's mind 'NOT A SINGLE WORD FOX!' Naruto screamed at his tenant angrily.

"Naruto-kun," The soft voice snapped his attention from the inside of his mind "W-w-what d-did my father say?" Hinata asked slowly

Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow at the pair, he was definitely making Naruto spill the details of this conversation next time they sparred, he wasn't even sure why he had such an investment in his friends relationship, it was certainly fun to tease them about it.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in nervous embarrassment "Um, Nothing really, just to…um…keep…our interactions…a little…more…private." He progressively got quieter and Sasuke had trouble catching the last bits of sentence.

'They can't have gone that far?!' He thought in wide eyed disbelief glanced at Hinata 'She's seems so shy? Is she really crazily bold?!'

The girl's face began to glow red before Sasuke swore he saw a small cloud of steam above her head 'No, Naruto's just an idiot.' Sasuke resisted the urge to face palm.

"So? Explain what Mizuki meant." Sasuke demanded, a little of his annoyance surrounding the last exchange coming through.

Naruto straightened 'Just charge in like you always do.' Those words came to mind at that moment.

"I'm the container for the Nine-Tail's Demon fox!" Naruto exclaimed, releasing massive breath "Oh man, that's feels way better."

Sasuke and Hinata both gaped at the blonde "Ah, Um, N-You…CONTEXT!" Sasuke shouted

"Oh, right my dad is also the fourth Hokage and he couldn't kill the Kyuubi, Kurama, is his name by the way, so he sealed it into a newborn and since my dad believed that he couldn't ask his subordinates something he himself would never do he sealed it in me, he also trusted me to be able to overcome the difficulties of the whole thing." Naruto rambled.

Sasuke slammed his palm over his head painfully, letting out a low growl at the action "So, your dad is the Fourth and you are the container for the Kyuubi, Any other bombs you want to drop on us before we ask you some things?"

"Hm…" Naruto thought a moment "Oh, this morning I learned the **Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique.) **My father used."

Sasuke fell flat on his back "Your…such…an IDIOT!" He roared.

"Eh?! Why?! You are the one who told me to charge in like I always do!" Naruto whined angrily

"You blurt out that the story we have been told since we were kids is a lie, you're the container for the demon fox we all thought was destroyed you follow _that_ up with 'Oh right, my dad is also the fourth' like having one of the world's most legendary Shinobi as your dad occurred to you as an afterthought," Sasuke fumed angrily before he sighed and gave Hinata a solemn look "It must be hard Hinata, I can see your struggle in a whole new light."

Hinata couldn't help but snicker at the dark haired brooder.

"Say that again you duck haired jackass, I beat you back into that hospital bed!" Naruto threatened

"There's still something I am curious about," Hinata piped up, drawing the two boys attention "You said the Kyuubi's name was Kurama, you can speak to him?"

Naruto say down and rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Well, sort of, It's kind of like we can hear what each other are thinking, of course only if we let it happen otherwise it's just thoughts as usual."

"I see," Hinata nodded, she gestured for Naruto to lean a little closer to her "I'm counting on you to keep my Naruto-kun safe, Kurama-kun."

**"I like her, She has a proper respect for your savior." Kurama nodded enthusiastically**

"Shut it fox." Naruto thought back angrily.

"Not to interrupt you and your, uh, Naruto-kun," Sasuke mimicked Hinata playfully "But how do you know this fox is really a good guy, well thing."

**"I don't like him." Kurama sighed**

Naruto ignored the fox, "Well, he has been giving me small amounts of Chakra since I accidentally yanked too much of his out that way I should be able to handle it if something bad were to happen again."

"That doesn't really answer my question." Sasuke pointed out

**Kurama sighed "Tell him to come here."**

**"**He wants you to come here." Naruto relayed with confusion.

Sasuke hesitantly obliged standing in front of the blonde and eyeing him curiously.

**"Place your hand on his head." Kurama ordered**

Naruto internally nodded, lifting his hand he placed it atop the dark haired boys head, said boy gave Naruto a surprised look but didn't move.

**"Listen here you Uchiha brat," Kurama announced darkly "If I meant your friend any harm, I would never give him the advice I have neither would I give him my Chakra, Think about how many years I have been inside his mind, I could have been subtly influencing him since birth do you believe the boy in front of you to be a fabrication?!"**

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth moved into a thin line and he nodded his head "I understand, Kurama, thank you for taking care of my friend for me." Sasuke thought back.

**"Hmph, I like him a little better." Kurama chuckled as Naruto removed his hand.**

"What'd he say?" Naruto asked curiously.

**"Nothing, He just accepted it." Kurama responded cryptically.**

"Fine, whatever." Naruto sighed

"Oh, I have something fun to tell the two of you, I think you'll like this surprise!" Naruto announced happily

The pair turned questioning looks to him.

Naruto reached inside his coat pocket and removed two small blue Hitai-ate, the Hidden leaf symbol proudly etched on the small metal band of cloth "We all made Genin!"

Sasuke was the only member in the room that was surprised, Hiashi had told Hinata when the two boys were outside and Naruto was the one doing the surprising, he had been given the forehead protectors by the Third because he was the first to wake up, he assumed Naruto would see the other two before he did.

The couple let the dark haired boy celebrate, by celebrate they just sat in silence as he struggled to keep from jumping around out of happiness.

* * *

><p>"Kakashi-san," Iruka swallowed hard "Are you sure this is a good idea?"<p>

"Yeah, This is how the fourth trained me and the fourth was trained in the same way, although it's changed a little since his time of course." Kakashi responded in his usual tone.

'What are they monsters?!' Iruka thought as his eyes widened, he felt a small pressure before Kakashi gave him a small push, Iruka swallowed hard again and steeled his resolve as he walked forward.

Anko Mitarashi, sat in her favorite seat in small restaurant that served the best sweet dango in Konoha, her back to the street as she placed another of the small confectionary into her mouth and sighed at the delicious taste. It was one of the small things she did that didn't give her a sadistic satisfaction.

Iruka stepped up beside her, she knew the teacher but never really spoke to him, after all he'd have to be pretty gutless to give up his career as a Shinobi to train brats, even if they were the future of their village, she couldn't imagine having to deal with them daily 'Okay, I guess I can respect him a little.' She thought to herself absently.

Iruka cracked a really forced smile towards the woman and she raised an eyebrow at him 'Please god at least let my legs move properly today!' he mentally prayed as he moved slightly, his arm wrapping around the woman's body as he took a firm hold of her plump behind "Wow, The guys were right when they said this was the best ass in all of Konoha." Iruka announced cockily

A tick mark appeared on the purple haired woman's forehead as she pulled a Kunai from her pouch and brandished it menacingly "You know, For a future corpse you've got guts."

Iruka paled as he jumped away from the woman before running as fast as his legs could carry him, Anko gave chase.

Kakashi removed a small book from his pocket and began reading it as he walked towards his home casually. Tomorrow he would be meeting his new team, although he knew all three of them pretty well from all the talking said students had stirred up. He smiled behind his mask.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have been away from this for a little while, procrastination, laziness and a few actual real life drama's happened so yeah, I thought about the whole Naruto explanation for a really long time, I changed from touchy feely to dark back to touchy and then a thought occurred to me, When was Naruto **_**ever**_** touchy feely as a kid? So, That's how we ended up with the charge. The end bit with Iruka and Anko is half for fun, half for a side pairing I kind of enjoy so I hope you enjoyed and I will see you guys next time! Peace!**


	14. Good-bye (Update)

**Hey guys, not really sure how to go about this one, but I have decided to quit writing fan fiction, there are a number of reasons and I will do my best to explain them, so I ask for a little understanding.**

**First and foremost would be my wife and I are expecting a child, I am incredibly happy and excited about it, but with the developments in my life recently I haven't had the time to update at all, but more than that I do not even have the motivation to do so anymore. Writing these stories has always been a hobby, I wanted to write chapter's so I did so, now I feel like I have to write them and I no longer want to as much as it sucks to leave so many of these stories unfinished there is a small silver lining for a few of my stories.**

**A close friend of mine has offered to pick up three of my stories, I know it's not many but at least a few will be continued, originally I had planned to drop all my stories completely as I didn't want to lose my own touch, even though it's a hobby I put quite a bit of effort into my stories, I really wanted them to be liked even if it was just for fun and I am satisfied with all of them. But as I said before, I no longer find it fun, it feels more like a chore and I don't like the chapters I am coming up with, but that's life, I never expected to be where I am today at all but I wouldn't ask for it to be any other way, I had a lot of fun writing these stories, talking with followers, I was flamed quite a bit when I started out, but I think I wrote a few stories that people really enjoyed and that makes me very happy.**

**I would like to thank each and every one of you for following, favouriting (This isn't really a word so I'm going with this spelling.), reviewing, messaging me when I disappeared for a month and even those people who just read the stories, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed writing them.**

**Now, with that I can tell you the stories that will continue.**

**The three fictions my friend asked to pick are:**

**A Wolf Among Hunters**

**The Legend of the Dragonkin**

**A New Vongola**

**His Pen-Name is Grandtheftfandom (Personally I think this is great.) He was actually the person that first got me to upload my fictions here, so if it wasn't for him I would never have written what I have, ironically he never uploaded his own stories even though I think they are quite good, hell maybe you guys can convince him to get one up. But as far as I am concerned no one would be able to continue my stories as close to my own writing style as him and I think he will do these three stories justice.**

**Again, I'd like to thank everyone for reading and enjoying my work, I appreciate it immensely and I doubt the stories would have evolved like they did without the input of some of you on here. But unfortunately this is it for me, I also would like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays.**

**So, I guess that's it, this is the last time I will be seeing you guys here, but it was fun.**

**Goodbye**

**Delta**


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